IATA Predicts 2016 Rollout for NDC

by Michele McDonald July 01, 2014

IATA expects final approval of Resolution 787, the foundation document of its New Distribution Capability, this summer, said director general and chief executive officer Tony Tyler.

“In the same time frame, we will have a revised set of shopping schemas, which benefitted from what we learned in the 2013 [NDC] pilots,” Tyler told delegates to the SITA Airline IT Summit in Brussels last week. SITA is a Geneva-based airline IT company whose owners and customers are airlines.

“We anticipate further pilots and initial adoption in 2015, leading to full-scale deployment in 2016,” Tyler said.

Testing the concept
IATA has launched seven NDC pilots in the past 12 months, and it announced four more at the beginning of June.

The so-called “proof of concept” pilots are testing the schemas, which provide the structures for how data is organized.

The aim of the NDC schemas is to standardize third-party distribution of airline products in a way that goes beyond comparison of price and schedule, bringing the kind of shopping experience to travel agents that consumers experience on airline websites.

“On an airline website, you may have access to a wide range of add-ons and fare packages, as well as a richer and more agile shopping experience,” Tyler said.

“This can include product descriptions with pictures and even video. And you can be recognized and even rewarded by providing your frequent flyer number.”

Already in GDSs
GDS companies would argue that they already provide at least some of these capabilities.

Tyler said, “It’s true that GDSs are moving in the same general direction with products aimed at supporting distribution of full, rich airline content to travel agents.

“However, each GDS has developed these products using proprietary standards, rather than the open and global standard being offered by NDC.”

IATA’s timetable
IATA plans to publish a first version of “end-to-end” schemas permitting airlines to test the “full NDC vision” covering shopping, booking, payment, ticketing and settlement this year.

In 2015, there will be additional test runs and “initial adoption,” with “full scale deployment” in 2016, according to Tyler.

“We are looking for more pilot volunteers, airlines and IT providers – particularly from Asia-Pacific and Latin America – to create even more momentum.”

Modernizing back-office functions
Concurrently with NDC, IATA is modernizing the back-office functions associated with airline ancillary offerings through the IATA e-Services project, Tyler said.

“This replaces all paper miscellaneous documents with the global IATA Electronic Miscellaneous Document standard.”

An EMD serves as the electronic record of the sale and fulfillment of products and services such as lounge access, preferred seat or baggage fees.