QF joins Amadeus NDC

AMADEUS has signed Qantas to its New Distribution Capability project NDC-X, becoming the second major GDS to link with the airline since the announcement of its Qantas Distribution Platform (QDP) last month.

The Australian airline is the first carrier to begin integration with the Amadeus NDC-X program, through which it will sell its fares and offer new content by later this year.

The pair’s partnership was announced today, coinciding with an Amadeus presentation to the board of AFTA on its NDC-X program and progress.

It follows a similar agreement struck between Qantas and Travelport ( TD 22 May).

Amadeus manager of air solutions strategy Jan Buyckx said the company’s NDC-X platform would be available by the end of this year, but would be “deployed in a scalable manner for the worldwide market” in the first half of next year.

“Amadeus is playing a very important role in bringing the industrialisation of NDC forward,” Buyckx said.

“This is a marathon - it’s going to be a long, consistent, step-by- step approach.

“We will be integrating, airline by airline, as soon as they have the required capabilities in terms of supporting the different use cases that are required by our users,” he said.

The first elements of NDC would relate to merchandising capabilities, Buyckx said, allowing more personalisation, better packing and relevant offers.

However he said it would be a platform for even greater innovation in the future.

“It’s really opening the doors to a much more opportunistic and value-driven industry,” he said.