BCD Travel achieves IATA Level 3 NDC certification

BCD’s NDC certification is the latest step in its drive to deliver the benefits of NDC to clients.

BCD Travel has been designated NDC-Certified Level 3 by IATA (International Air Transport Association), the organization that launched the New Distribution Capability (NDC) data transmission standard.

What’s the NDC certification?

IATA provides the only official industry certification program in support of the New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard. The purpose of the NDC Certification Program is to confirm the scope and level of a particular entity’s capability to receive and send XML-based communications from and to airlines using IATA NDC transmission standards. NDC, in turn, gives airlines greater flexibility to differentiate and sell their products via third-party intermediaries (like global distribution systems, aggregators and travel management companies) or direct to consumers.

Benefits for clients

“As an industry leader in shaping multisource content and distribution strategy, our emphasis is on the benefits to our customers. Seven years into NDC’s development, we see more activity within the IATA Leaderboard airlines [airlines who have set a target to deliver at least 20% of their indirect volume through NDC-capable application programming interfaces by 2020]. This, in turn, means greater traction for NDC overall as the airline content distribution standard of the future,” said Thane Jackson, BCD’s Senior Vice President of Distribution Strategy.

BCD’s NDC certification is the latest step in its drive to deliver the benefits of NDC to clients. BCD previously struck channel booking deals with Qantas, Air France/KLM and British Airways/Iberia, and was the first global TMC to sign an NDC agreement with Lufthansa Group. BCD also participates in Amadeus NDC [X], Sabre’s Beyond NDC and Travelport’s NDC program.

Jackson added: “We’re committed to continuing to source the content that’s relevant to our clients’ programs. But NDC isn’t a ‘one and done’ project for BCD or any other party in the distribution chain. Significant steps have been taken toward providing content via NDC connectivity at scale—but challenges and limitations remain in addressing the multiple integration points (including third-party online booking tools), reporting and duty of care requirements of complex corporate travel. We look forward to continuing to work with clients to mitigate the impact of those limitations, and with our industry partners to move past them.”

To learn how BCD’s distribution strategy ensures its clients continued access to the most comprehensive range of content, visit BCD’s NDC website and download our NDC white paper.

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