Paris-based TMC Travel Planet is reporting that it is now officially live with American Airlines NDC content and that it took less than a month to implement.
CEO UK James Diaz said: “Our in-house developers jumped on this project four weeks ago and have even surprised me how quickly and effective they completed this task.
“As a tech-led TMC, our proprietary booking platform ‘Click and Control’ has been built from the ground up with direct connect and NDC in mind. We add this to our already extensive NDC content with British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and Iberia.
He said clients will have access to all American Airlines’ NDC and GDS content.
Travel Planet said more connection announcements will be coming up over the next few months, not just for air bookings.
The announcement comes as the April 3 deadline approaches for TMCs to connect to American Airlines NDC channels or lose access to more than 40% of the fares currently available via legacy distribution channels.
Although this content will no longer be bookable without an NDC connection, it will still be available through EDIFACT-based channels.
Sabre also announced this week that travel buyers, agencies and developer partners will be able to shop, book, and service American’s NDC content, including paid seats, through Sabre’s Offer and Order APIs, the agency point-of-sale tool, Sabre Red 360, and the online booking tool, GetThere.
It said travel buyers connected to the Sabre GDS will be able to choose “enhanced offers” from American such as the Main Select and Flagship Business Plus fares, ancillary products and the lowest fares available in these channels.
It also promised buyers access to more descriptive information on American’s flight offers as well as seat selection enabled in the booking path.
“We are excited to reach this milestone with American Airlines and look forward to our ongoing collaboration to provide travel buyers with the offers and services their travelers want,” said Kathy Morgan, Vice President, NDC and Airline Supply, Sabre Travel Solutions.
“While it is still early days for NDC bookings, making this rich NDC content from the world’s largest airline available in Sabre channels is an important step towards the maturing and scaling of NDC distribution.”
