eTNW reports from Iata's 69th agm
Airlines, in a unanimously approved key resolution at Iata’s 69th agm in Cape Town, have reaffirmed their support for the association’s proposed New Distribution Capability (NDC) that will develop an open Internet-based standard for travel agents to distribute airfares.
Iata said the NDC would not bypass agents but enable them to sell everything consumers already have access to on airline websites, including graphic depictions of products and services, which most agents currently cannot access through their GDS-based systems.
Members confirmed NDC would be voluntary and that Iata would continue to support the existing standard while demand for it exists. They agreed NDC would support current shopping methods and that data privacy protection laws would safeguard consumers.
The resolution adds further momentum to the NDC initiative launched at the Iata Passenger Service Conference late last year, since submitted to the US Department of Transportation for approval. The first live pilot will be underway by year-end and the new standard is to be finalised by 2015.
Meanwhile, in what was hailed as an historic agreement, airlines overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution on the implementation of an aviation carbon-neutral growth (CNG2020) strategy. They recommended that governments – at the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) 38th assembly in September – agree on a single, global, mandatory carbon offsetting scheme as the simplest and most effective market-based-measure (MBM) to manage climate change impact until improvements in technology, infrastructure and operations can offer a long-term solution. “We’ve done our bit and now it’s up to the governments to find a mechanism that will work on a global scale,” commented Iata dg and ceo, Tony Tyler.
Airlines also unanimously endorsed a set of principles they want governments to consider when adopting consumer protection regulation. This is in response to a proliferation of uncoordinated and overlapping passenger rights legislation and regulations in some 50 countries, that are confusing passengers and affect airlines.
The agm concluded yesterday with the announcement that Delta Air Lines ceo, Richard Anderson, has been appointed Iata’s new chairman for the coming year. He succeeds Qantas Airways ceo and md, Alan Joyce.
Next year’s 70th Iata agm will be held in Doha, Qatar from June 1 to 3, with Qatar Airways as host ailine.
