Lufthansa Group and Travelport Sign New Distribution Deal for Modern Airline Retailing

Photo source: Lufthansa Group

The Lufthansa Group airlines and Travelport, a leader in travel retail, on Tuesday announced a new distribution agreement that enables modern airline retailing as well as technology innovation.

Under the agreement, which covers the carriers Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS and Air Dolomiti, Travelport will distribute Lufthansa Group airlines’ NDC (New Distribution Capability) content through the next-generation content distribution and travel retailing platform, Travelport+.

This agreement builds on the ongoing distribution of Lufthansa Group airlines’ content through traditional EDIFACT channels.

“This future-oriented agreement allows a maximum level of flexibility, and confirms that Travelport and Lufthansa Group airlines are teaming up to drive change in our industry towards true retailing capabilities and implementing customer-centric processes that together elevate the customer experience to new levels,” said Tamur Goudarzi Pour, Senior VP Channel Management at Lufthansa Group Network Airlines and Chief Commercial Officer SWISS.

According to an announcement, both companies are already in the process of implementing end-to-end NDC functionality.

The launch, expected in the first half of 2022, also lays the foundation for a diversified NDC program giving Travelport-connected travel agencies the ability to access Lufthansa Group airlines’ content through Travelport+ by signing up to one of the two available commercial NDC models, the NDC Public model or NDC Bilateral model.

“Expanding our longstanding partnership with Lufthansa Group airlines to include NDC content, with the retailing possibilities it offers, is a significant stride forward,” Jason Clarke, Chief Commercial Officer, Travel Partners at Travelport, said.

“Managing multiple sources of content and merchandizing them effectively with personalized and dynamic offers is exactly what Travelport+ has been built for,” he added.