16th December 2024
More than 12 years after its initial announcement, IATA’s NDC standard faces ongoing challenges due to inconsistent interpretations and implementations.
While NDC connectivity has demonstrated potential in certain areas, it has yet to achieve true standardisation across the industry. The associated fragmentation significantly increases the cost and complexity for travel sellers to connect to multiple airlines, hindering scalability.
Even with the same NDC version, airlines implement the standard differently, often influenced by their IT providers, leading to significant variations. As highlighted by Amadeus, these variations can cause issues even with a simple hyphen in a data field.
Each airline connection requires significant effort, regardless of prior NDC experience. This translates to higher implementation costs and longer time-to-market. Inconsistent data formats and processes hinder smooth operations. Managing multiple, disparate NDC connections diverts resources and hinders the development of new travel offerings.
Normalisation: The Key to Progress
To overcome these challenges, data and flow normalisation is crucial. This means establishing consistent presentation of data elements like departure times and airport codes. Normalisation also involves managing variations in how airlines structure and present information, such as pricing, and creating standardised workflows for common travel operations like bookings, cancellations, and changes.
A Framework, Not a Standard?
Overall, variations in how airlines interpret and apply the NDC framework create a fragmented landscape. While it provides a foundation, the NDC standard currently behaves more like a framework than a truly standardised system.
Gearing Up for 2025
True interoperability across different airline NDC connections remains elusive. The dynamic nature of the standard adds another layer of complexity. Industry collaboration efforts are ongoing, but much work remains.
For a more interoperable and scalable NDC ecosystem in 2025 and beyond, the industry must focus on:
- Accurate and reliable data exchange across all airline NDC connections.
- Greater alignment among airlines, technology providers, and travel sellers in implementing the NDC standard.
Moving forward, key questions remain:
- How can the industry, including travel agents, effectively manage content from EDIFACT, NDC, and Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs)?
- How will the industry address the limitations of the current NDC landscape to achieve a truly standardised and efficient system?
By Ritesh Gupta,
Ai Team
