Lufthansa Group and Amadeus are expanding their partnership to further modernize travel distribution and retailing by bringing its NDC-sourced content through the global distribution system’s NDC-enabled interfaces.
As of quarter four this year, Lufthansa Group airlines’ NDC-sourced content will be available via the Amadeus NDC-enabled interfaces – Amadeus Selling Platform Connect, Amadeus Travel API and Cytric Travel & Expense.
This includes NDC offers from Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Air Dolomiti and Eurowings Discover, including continuous pricing and a wide range of ancillary services. Beyond NDC offers, travel sellers will continue having access to Lufthansa Group airlines content through existing EDIFACT technology. The GDS already has NDC content from Air France-KLM, British Airways, American Airlines, United Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and others.
“The Lufthansa Group remains fully committed to shaping the aviation industry and modernising air travel experiences for our passengers,” said Tamur Goudarzi Pour, chief commercial officer and member of the management board of Swiss.
“I am excited that with the signing of this ground-breaking distribution agreement, which also enables the introduction of two NDC models, we continue on our path to modernize airline retailing together with our long-term partner Amadeus.
“Together, as industry leaders, we will substantially accelerate the penetration of modern industry standards such as NDC on a global scale.”
Lufthansa Group and Amadeus are working to integrate the airlines’ NDC offers into the Amadeus Travel Platform targeting a gradual global roll-out in quarter four 2022 onwards, commencing in selected European markets, and thus enable shopping, booking, payment and servicing in a solution that is fully integrated into the Amadeus ecosystem.
In the following months, the range of content and functionalities will be continuously expanded.
“The reach, scale and sophisticated retailing capabilities of our NDC-enabled solutions will help Lufthansa Group and Amadeus travel sellers better serve their customers with more relevant offerings,” said Decius Valmorbida, president of Travel at Amadeus.
“This agreement comes at a time when NDC and the move towards travel retailing is evolving rapidly, and we believe such traveler-centric partnerships will be critical to the sustainable growth of our industry.”