NDC Overview

NDC (New Distribution Capability) is a travel industry standard for the distribution and retailing of flight content. NDC is not a system, database, or piece of software - it is a standard for exchanging data. Smartpoint Cloud supports the full booking workflow: search, book and ticket, retrieve, modify, and cancel/void.

How NDC works

NDC was developed by the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) to improve communications  between airlines and travel sellers. It uses XML for the distribution of flight content. Before NDC, EDIFACT was used, but with the rapid shift to online and the evolution of digital offerings, EDIFACT has not kept pace.

The NDC Standard includes a concept of offer management and order management.

• Offer Management refers to airline’s capabilities to distribute their products but also to merchandise additional services like baggage, seat selection, or ancillaries using rich content.

• Order Management refers to airline capabilities to manage the order from booking, storing, servicing and fulfillment.

The differences between NDC and EDIFACT

• In NDC the airline has control for offers, orders, and ticketing.

• NDC is a shopping led workflow so there is no availability data. The inventory and price are not guaranteed until the booking is fulfilled.

• Involuntary changes are sent using order change notifications and don’t use the AIRIMP codes HK/TK.

• Order History has not been implemented by the airlines.

• Ticket Time Limit (payment time limit) is not generally sent by the airline.

• New time limits have been introduced:

  • Offer Time Limit (time to create a booking) – generally 20-30 minutes

  • Payment Time Limit (Time to ticket the order) – generally the same as today

• There are two ticketing models in NDC:

  • Airline issues the ticket on their own stock

  • Airline uses FLX stock to issue the ticket

• NDC has introduced the concept of continuous pricing not limited to the 26 fare buckets.

• NDC introduces the ability to send FQTV data at shopping.

• NDC allows additional services (e.g., seats/bags) to be selected and purchased along with the fare, not post ET (end transact).

NDC at Travelport

IATA NDC Schemas	17.2, 18.1, and 18.2
Itineraries supported	Single airline, multiple passengers
Payment	Cash, credit card, and banked funds
Settlement	ARC and BSP
Travelport PNR	Passive Segment (ZK)
Mid and Back Office	MIR/TAIR (DI lines)
Services	Air Shop, Offer Price, Order Create, Order View, Cancel/Refund/Void, Order Change (voluntary and involuntary), Order Divide, Seats, and Ancillaries

Detailed airline-specific NDC information is found in the airline's general information knowledge base article. Visit Travelport Support, search for the airline name or code plus NDC (for example, search NDC SQ for information about Singapore Airlines NDC capabilities).

NDC airline-specific information is currently found in the following knowledge base articles:

• Air France / KLM

• American Airlines

• avianca

• British Airways

• Emirates

• Iberia

• Lufthansa Group

• Malaysia Airlines

• Qantas Airways

• Qatar Airways

• SAS

• Singapore Airlines

• United Airlines