GDSs say that they already have products in the market with capabilities that IATA says its New Distribution Capability (NDC) will deliver.
They say that NDC is not the only way to sell a wider range of airline products and services.
Fergal Kelly, vice president of content for Travelport, said that Travelport is already implementing capabilities proposed by NDC using available technologies and standards.
IATA recently rolled out a video that gave a demonstration of how air travel could be presented in an NDC-enabled environment.
“While IATA’s NDC may support the capabilities outlined in the video, it’s not to say that such capabilities can only be enabled by NDC,” said Kelly.
“This serves to underscore our position that the technology barrier which IATA claims as the reason for NDC being implemented, simply does not exist,” Kelly said.
Amadeus said that it, too, already has capabilities that NDC would enable.
Amadeus said it supports the goals of NDC “both philosophically and with the development of our own platforms, where most of these functionalities are already available.”
NDC is an initiative to develop an XML-based language standard for travel agent distribution, for the purpose of selling a wider range of airline products and services through travel agents.
Follow Kate Rice on Twitter @krtravelweekly.