Amadeus is on track to become the first GDS that is fully enabled to sell and settle NDC-powered bookings within the U.S.
The company expects to reach the milestone in April.
"Our plan is to have this available to any agent who is accessing our system," said Mark Ridley, Amadeus' head of airline distribution solutions.
But while the development could herald the long-awaited beginning of ready access to NDC content for agencies within GDS channels, it is not clear how it will impact the per-segment incentive payments agencies currently receive for GDS bookings powered by legacy Edifact standard technology.
Agency subscribers in Asia gained access to NDC offers on the Amadeus Travel Platform in February. Content is to be enabled during the first half of this month in Germany, the U.K. and Switzerland, Ridley said.
In the U.S., content will be available in April, once Amadeus finishes a back-end settlement integration with ARC. With the launch, agencies and travel advisors will be able to book NDC-enabled content as well as service bookings and settle sales within their usual Amadeus workflow, Ridley said.
Travel advisors will also see clearly on their screen if an offer is enabled by NDC.
Still, when the service launches, agents shouldn't expect to see many such offers. So far, only American, Singapore, Qantas and Finnair are providing NDC-enabled bundles, ancillaries or other content to Amadeus, Ridley said, though 13 other airlines are signed up to do so.
For those already participating, the content offers are quite limited. For example, last month American Airlines announced only its second and third NDC-enabled bundles for sale through third parties. The carrier's lone leisure channel bundle is a simple one, combining a Main Cabin Extra seat with a free checked bag.
"What we are seeing at the moment is that the airlines are not ready on their side to start giving us extra content. This will be one of the things that will slow down adoption," Ridley said.
He explained that NDC-enabled transactions within the Amadeus GDS will follow the same general commercial model as traditional transactions. Airlines will pay a fee to Amadeus, and Amadeus won't charge travel advisors to access the content.
However, when asked whether agencies that book NDC content will still be paid a segment fee, Ridley was unspecific.
"Commercial agreements are unique and confidential, but we can share that NDC-enabled content will be made available as part of our core content to agencies," he said.
Norm Rose, a senior analyst for Phocuswright, said he believes the largest travel management companies and travel agencies might receive payments from Amadeus, and ultimately the other GDSs, for NDC-enabled bookings. But for most agencies, he doesn't expect segment fees to be part of the model.
"That is going to disappear, I guarantee you," Rose said.
Underpinning that view is the expectation that airlines will pay the GDSs far less for NDC-enabled bookings than the approximately $4.50 per segment that they pay for legacy technology bookings. Michael Strauss, CEO of PASS Consulting, which provides IT services to travel industry companies, including NDC direct connects, estimates airlines will pay the GDSs approximately $3 per passenger name record for NDC-enabled bookings, versus $16 to $20 under the legacy model.
Though Ridley said agencies won't pay for Amadeus NDC bookings, Strauss doesn't expect that to be the long-term industry model.
"I assume at some point the GDSs, since they aren't getting money from the airlines, will charge the agency," he said.
However, airlines, eager to sell more via NDC, could replace some of the segment fee income agencies stand to lose.
American has done just that in NDC-enabled channels since 2017, paying agencies $2 per segment booked. The carrier will also pay that fee for NDC bookings via Amadeus.
Corrected: This report was updated with an accurate image showing Amadeus' NDC display.