Travelport to offer surcharge-free GDS bookings

IN THE next three months,

Travelport will launch the

first version of Iata NDC

API-sourced content, which

agents and TMCs will be

able to book without paying

a GDS surcharge, all within

their traditional workflow.

This is according to

Gordon Wilson, Travelport

president and chief

executive.

Claudette Thorne, SA

country manager for

Travelport, told TNW that

once it was rolled out,

agents would have a fully

integrated system, where

NDC content appeared

alongside traditional GDS

content on the same

screen. “Agents will be able

to choose which content

they would like to sell.

“The NDC content will be

GDS surcharge-free for all

agents, however, if agents

sell the NDC content they

won’t receive their GDS

rebate.”

A Travelport spokesperson

from the international

head office told TNW,

“A handful of airlines

globally surcharge content

purchased by agents via a

GDS. Our aim is for these

charges to no longer be

incurred once the content

is sourced through NDC

technology using our API

or Travelport Smartpoint

solution.”

The spokesperson added

that Travelport had been

in discussions with the

airlines for a number

of months to provide a

solution that took both

agents and airlines into

account. “As we were

the first to be certified by

Iata as an NDC Level 3

Aggregator late last year,

we have been in talks with

a number of airlines since

to ensure that we can

fulfil both their needs and

the needs of our agency

customers, in the NDC era.”

The spokesperson did

not discuss the impact on

commercial models, but

said there would be a range

of commercial models as

the era of NDC-enabled

content evolved.

At present, the Amadeus

GDS allows agencies

that have negotiated

agreements with IAG-owned

airlines to access airfares

surcharge free. 