SQ collaborative on NDC

SINGAPORE Airlines is taking a collaborative approach with trade partners on its rollout of NDC through the KrisConnect program in Australia (TD 04 Feb), Singapore Airlines General Manager National Agency Sales Greg McJarrow told Travel Daily.

“With the right encouragement and the collaborative approach that we are looking at, I think we will get a very good uptake from the Australian trade,” he said.

McJarrow emphasised agents who decide to stay with the existing system, could, but NDC would provide agents with the best range of products and services.

“The reality is, the full suite of products, bundles, etc, is not going to be available via this option,” he said.

“It isn’t today because it cannot be,” McJarrow told Travel Daily.

He said agents who do connect would have access to new options such as booking preferred seat selection, and with that, would come additional chances to earn commission.

“If they sell that preferred seat, then they should get a commission for doing so... they don’t have that option today.”

McJarrow said Singapore Airlines would be able to provide agents with the full suite of NDC capabilities from 01 Jul, however, he did note that there may be some feature differences as technology partners come online.

If an agent chooses a GDS or an aggregator, the features they provide and when they will be available may vary, and it would be best to speak directly to their preferred provider, he said.

Agents who decide to develop for their own platforms, can get a direct connection to Singapore Airlines and will be able to connect after an onboarding process.

There will also be a direct booking portal available through AGENT360 which will launch later this year.

“Can we connect someone tomorrow?

“In theory, yes, but there are a number of steps that we need to take before we flick the switch,” he said.