In the past two weeks there have been two stories which jumped
to the top of the most popular list on BTN Europe.
The first was the news that Emirates is to start charging for
GDS content from July, on the same day that it launches exclusive content on
its direct connect platform, Emirates Gateway, enabled by IATA¡¯s New
Distribution Capability (NDC).
The second was that International Airlines Group, the parent of
British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus, had reached a deal to give
Amadeus-connected agents and corporates access to NDC content from the second
half of this year.
It seems the industry is still really interested in what is
happening with regards to NDC and our publication of those stories resulted in
some highly charged dialogue from those in the sector on LinkedIn. We decided
to return to the topic in this week¡¯s podcast to answer some of the questions
and comments that came up as a result.
?
In the podcast, we discuss how the downturn in business travel caused by the
pandemic has slashed money flows in the system and this gives an opportunity to
rethink how that money moves around the industry. TMCs, in particular, are
desperate to avoid becoming commercialised and need to be able to generate more
revenue per trip.?
We seem to be moving to a world in which every player in the
supply chain is going to be paid for they value they provide and some are
scared about what that looks like.
But what is NDC content? NDC content can be anything from an
extra bag to even providing a mariachi band to play you out as you board the
plane if that¡¯s what you want. The problem with that is control and the
airlines have challenges providing that level of control even between hubs and
different members of their airline alliances.
NDC promises a new retailing world but who is the retailer? TMC,
airline or online booking tool?
We ask these questions and more. The podcast features
Nike¡¯s Daniel Tallos, David Bishop of Gray Dawes Group and Paul Tilstone of
Festive Road along with regular host Mark Frary.
Click on the player below to listen to or download the episode, or to subscribe to the series via Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Alternatively, explore all?previous BTN Europe podcasts here.