Travelport Receives NDC ‘Level 3’ Aggregator Certification by IATA

Travelport has been certified by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as a “Level 3” aggregator under IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) initiative, intended to create a new distribution standard for the airline industry.

NDC is a travel industry-supported program launched by IATA for the development and market adoption of a new, XML-based data transmission standard (NDC Standard). The NDC Standard enhances the capability of communications between airlines and travel agents.

According to an announcement, Travelport will work with airline technology specialist Farelogix to implement the first such NDC connection with a major global airline, details of which will be revealed soon.

Travelport is now the first Global Distribution System (GDS) travel commerce platform to acquire such status. To prepare for this certification, Travelport also worked with the UK travel agency Meon Valley Travel.

“We welcome Travelport as the first GDS to become NDC level 3 certified as an aggregator. The company will now be able to bring NDC to their existing customer base and broaden the scope to a wider range of airlines,” IATA director NDC program Yanik Hoyles said.

The company already connects travel buyers through the airline database ATPCo to more than 280 ancillaries. “This NDC status will complement that,” said Travelport senior VP and MD of Air Commerce Derek Sharp. “It will also complement our extensive existing API connections and our valued tools for critical workflows, servicing and synchronization.  This is a complex process for all participants and we look forward to working with other partners in making this new era a success,” he added.

Travelport was the first travel commerce platform to be granted “Aggregator Level One” certification for its GDS and “IT Provider Level Two” status by IATA in November 2016 and February 2017 respectively. Level 3 is the highest certification IATA awards to companies, who can demonstrate the ability to execute full offer and order management.