Lufthansa Group has extended the benefits of membership to the NDC Partner Program in the UK.
From December 1st, the cheapest European point to point fares offered by Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and Swiss will only be available via NDC and direct sales channels.
The decision comes three years after Lufthansa announced plans to levy a €16 Distribution Cost Charge on bookings made via global distribution systems.
The new move is designed to drive adoption of NDC technology.
“Our goal today, as well as when we introduced NDC three years ago, is to pave the way to a more powerful, innovative and cost-efficient distribution landscape,” said Andreas Koester, senior director sales, UK, Ireland & Iceland, Lufthansa Group.
“This is of the utmost importance because the travellers of today, and tomorrow, expect to receive airline content in the same easy, digital and transparent way that they are already used to in other parts of their life.
“Our objective is to ensure that our customers experience Lufthansa Group’s premium airline promise at any own and third-party purchase points.”
Economy Light fares will no longer be available in GDS from the start of December, but can instead be accessed via Lufthansa Group airlines Direct NDC API, SPRK, austrian.com, lufthansa.com, swiss.com and lhgroup-agent.com.
Initially Economy Light tickets from London Heathrow and London City will be excluded from this policy and will remain bookable via GDS.
“We are now seeing a strong understanding within the UK trade about the value of an NDC connection.
“With a comprehensive NDC infrastructure now in place, and improving all the time, the number of NDC bookings is growing strongly.
“With our announcement today, we are focusing our efforts on providing a proper commercial incentive for the use of our NDC channels,” continued Koester.
The Lufthansa Group airlines achieved the highest IATA NDC level of certification in 2017 and continues investing further in innovative NDC solutions which improve the capabilities and offers for its travel agency partners and furthermore, strengthens its leading position in the industry.