Amadeus has announced that American Express Global Business Travel and Carlson Wagonlit Travel will join the NDC-X program to help pilot Amadeus’ new NDC-enabled solution.
American Express Global Business Travel will use Amadeus’ NDC-enabled solution to test and familiarise itself with the new NDC flow of ‘shop, order, pay’.
This will help GBT prepare to implement the industrialised version of the solution, which will include servicing capabilities, in 2019.
This agreement means American Express GBT will have access to NDC content in addition to Amadeus’ extensive travel content available in the global distribution system.
“By working with Amadeus we already have access to a broad array of travel content.
“Now with NDC, we’ll be able to offer even more to our clients.
“This content will be available through all points of sale, whether digital self-service or agent tools,” said Michael Qualantone, executive vice president of global supplier relations for American Express Global Business Travel.
“No matter how the industry evolves, cost efficiency and service quality are always going to be among our top priorities, and working on the NDC-X program with Amadeus, our longstanding distribution partner, enables us to achieve this.”
Through the program, CWT will be working with Amadeus in order to connect travel sellers and airlines using the NDC standard.
“It’s great to have CWT on board as part of NDC-X,” says Gianni Pisanello, vice president, NDC-X program, Amadeus.
“Working with innovative, forward-thinking partners such as CWT will allow us to ensure that our solutions provide the right content and functionalities for a wide spectrum of business needs.
“Our program is gaining real traction, with a flurry of announcements so far this year as we bring leading travel sellers and airlines together to drive progress with NDC.”
Amadeus’ NDC-X program brings together all NDC initiatives across the company – as an IT provider and an aggregator – and Amadeus is working with several airlines and travel sellers to drive the adoption of NDC across the industry.