The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has collaborated with a Coalition of National Travel Agent Associations to look at options to benefit travel agents in light of the New Distribution Capability (NDC) XML standard that is prised for implementation by airlines and GDS’s.
According to a report on ETN, the Coalition includes AFTA and TAANZ, as well as American, Canadian, South African, Indian and Brazilian associations.
“As a better understanding and acceptance of NDC by airlines becomes apparent, it is timely to now undertake this research study to investigate how travel agents might benefit from the implementation of the standard” AFTA ceo, Jayson Westbury said in the report.
An independent consultant who is yet to be appointed by the Coalition will conduct the study.
IATA is expecting the research and analysis to cover the impact from a business, technology and commercial perspective of NDC for travel agents, as well as to explore options to overcome any issues from its implementation within the “travel value chain”, the report stated.
It also expects to provide “scenarios of the potential funding models for the transaction of airfares and airline ancillary products via the travel agent channel using the NDC standard”.
“With the full set of NDC ‘end-to-end’ schemas now available, this collaboration is a great opportunity to jointly understand the benefits and implications of NDC from the perspective of travel agents,” IATA program director, NDC, Yanik Hoyles said.
Evaluating issues from all perspectives of the travel chain, from large, medium and small agencies, as well as business and leisure-travel focused companies and will seek out views from key stakeholders across airlines, GDS’s, travel technology firms and the providers of corporate booking tools.
