Travelport’s New Agreement with Qantas to Offer NDC Connections

Photo source: Qantas

Travelport’s new agreement with Qantas includes a commitment to continued collaboration on the future of distribution

Travelport on Monday said it has strengthened its partnership with Qantas, Australia’s national carrier, with a new agreement that offers New Distribution Capability (NDC) Connections.

The announcement comes following Qantas’ statement that it will launch the Qantas Channel on August 1, which will allow agents to access content sourced from the NDC-enabled Qantas Distribution Platform.

“We are delighted to be supporting Qantas as it develops its new Channel and introduces the NDC standard. As the first GDS operator with an NDC booking solution available to a small group of customers, we have proven our capability to deliver this new standard,” said Travelport’s Managing Director Australia and New Zealand, Scott Barber.

“We are supporting our customers as they prepare for this new distribution era to ensure it provides seamless, integrated travel choice through access to the broadest range of content,” Barber added.

Travelport recently outlined its 2019 NDC roadmap after the successful onboarding of the first group of travel agencies to receive access to NDC content following the initial live booking in October 2018.

The first NDC booking with Travelport technology taking place. Photo source: Travelport

According to Travelport, the company will continue to refine its NDC booking solutions and intends to follow up with further enhancements including an API NDC connection channel through its Trip Service API mid-year.

Commenting on the airline’s new distribution model, Qantas Chief Customer Officer, Vanessa Hudson, said the airline was pleased to be working with Travelport to make the Qantas Channel available to their agents globally.

“The digital environment has changed the way we need to work with our trade partners, and our new technology paired with this new Qantas Channel agreement will support us on the journey to delivering our vision for our mutual customers,” Hudson said.