2021 was the year of industrialization for NDC – what’s next?

In this podcast, we take a deep dive into NDC – looking at how industrialization of the standard has progressed in 2021, and a look ahead to what’s in store for 2022. We discuss how the industry is starting to use NDC to enhance travel retailing, with:

• Concrete examples of how airlines and travel sellers can personalize and deliver rich and relevant offers
• Travix NDC journey
• A reflection of how NDC has progressed in 2021
• Challenges of NDC adoption
• Tips for travel players wanting to join the NDC journey 

Speakers:

• Laila Ben Salah, VP Industry Relations & Air, Travix 
• Ludo Verheggen, Director, Air Distribution Growth, Amadeus

Find out more information on NDC at amadeus.com/NDC, and to check out our other Amadeus Travel Tech Talk podcast episodes, visit: https://amadeustraveltechtalk.buzzsprout.com

To stay up to date on the latest news from Amadeus, and to catch the next episodes in our series, check out the Resource section on our website or follow us on Spotify or Apple podcasts.

Transcript

Borja Saki  0:05  
Hi, and welcome to the Amadeus travel Tech Talk podcast where we will talk about the biggest the most burning and the toughest questions we need to answer today, in order to rebuild the travel industry. I'm Borja Saki and I will be your host for today's episode. Throughout this podcast series, we're going to explore together with our customers and partners, how the travel industry can recover from the impact of COVID-19. We'll address how technology can support that recovery and how to boost traveler competence and trust. And finally, how we can collaborate together as an industry to drive growth. For this episode I'm chatting with Laila Ben Salah, VP industry relations and air at traffics and our very own Ludo Verheggen, Director of air distribution growth at Amadeus, to discuss where the industry is at with NDC and a reflection on the past year and the road ahead. Travix has been a driver customer Amadeus' NDC X program since its inception in 2019, as well as a recent contributor for NDC white paper and NDC 2021 and the path to industrialization. Hi, Laila, Ludo. It's a pleasure to have you with us today.

Laila Ben Salah  1:17  
Hello, thank you for the invitation and for having me and allowing me to share some of our experiences in this environment.

Ludo Verheggen  1:27  
Hi, Borja. Thanks a lot for having me. And hi, Laila, really great that you're joining us today on our podcast.

Borja Saki  1:35  
Great, so excited for the conversation ahead. So let me kick off with my first question, which is for you, Laila. Travix has been one of the pioneers in driving and adopting NDC. Right? So can you tell me where is Travix today on its NDC journey? And what ground has been covered as an industry so far in improving digital retailing?

Laila Ben Salah  1:58  
Yes, indeed, traffic has been one of the first jumping on this Amadeus NDC X program. Our role was providing feedback, but also shaping the solution together until going live. So recently, Air France KLM has been in production and gone live since mid September of 2021. With results being positive in terms of NDC bookings. The next in pipeline is Singapore Airlines planned to be implemented around Q1 of 2022. So I must say that one of the key focus items that we had from the beginning was servicing, servicing mainly matters for our customers. And I think now more than ever, so we clearly outlined the need to have critical surfacing capabilities to be able to really start looking at adopting NDC content from our customers. And at this stage, we have automated cancellation life with France KLM in the NDC X environment, and we are working on completing automated changes. So yes, like I said, it is surfacing. But achieving a broader differentiation through innovation is our wider object. And mainly because we have always been a leader in concept working closely with Amadeus, but also our airline partners being one of the early adopters on fare families, upselling, cross selling an NDC is for us, again, an innovation flat ground to open opportunities to work with our partners on piloting, but also to deliver a new differentiated experience for our customers. Let me complete this question by stating that NDC is a journey. Certainly not a destination for traffic's.

Borja Saki  3:52  
I love that phrase, actually. NDC is a journey, not the destination. And I mean, Ludo, is there anything you would like to add on the progress of the industry on NDC so far on top of Laila? Well,

Ludo Verheggen  4:06  
I would say that, as late as the very clearly explained, no, we were at the beginning of the of this journey. And it's great to have such an innovative partner as traffic's joining us on that journey and really driving NDC forward with us and with the rest of the industry. And we're really seeing that innovation is slowly but surely starting to happen. Airlines are starting to make new types of products and offers available. We're seeing more and more travel centers worldwide that are starting to make their first NDC bookings not just like Travix already did quite some time ago. And overall, of course the fact that technology partners are going out there with scalable solutions with a strong focus on the servicing part.

Borja Saki  4:50  
Thanks, Ludo. This actually leads nicely on to my next question, which is to you Ludo, as well. We've talked before about some of the benefits and NDC can bring such as the freedom to innovate right, and personalize and deliver rich and relevant offers. Can you tell me where are we seeing this value delivered today concretely?

Ludo Verheggen  5:09  
I mean, one of the the biggest advantages and benefits that we'll be seeing with NDC is the fact that it creates a much more dynamic environment for all the players in the travel industry. And we're starting to see some first examples of that already today. It's true that probably the true potential of NDC still needs to be unlocked. But if we're looking at what has been happening last year in 2021, and what we're seeing now, coming up for the next few months, there are some clear and I think nice examples already of how NDC is benefiting our industry and the different players. So one example that I would like to mention is, for example, around loyalty and frequent flyer information. So with NDC, it's much easier to exchange information around frequent flyer. So it means that airlines can already inform travel status from the start, how many frequent flyer points, for example, traveler would get with a specific offer. But at the same time, if we can flyer number of the travelers being shared with the airline, then the airlines can also adapt their offering based on that. And we're already seeing some airlines doing some innovation, for example, making discounts or special offers available. Another area where we are starting to see the first signs of innovation is when it comes to additional services. With NDC, it's much easier for an airline to bring new types of services into the indirect channel. So make them available through their travel service partner. And one of the European airlines that we're currently piloting with has already started with making a lot of quite interesting meals available through NDC. Right? So that's not just is there a children's menu, or is there a gluten free menu, but really, very specific meals, I think there are reps that are being on offer and other special dishes. And the third area where we're seeing innovation is around servicing. Now, the idea of NDC is to make distribution and the processing of the flight information in a much smoother and more efficient way. So in the traditional EDIFACT based distribution model, travel agencies had to know a lot of complex cryptic transactions, to be able to work with the information that's coming from the airlines and sending it to the airlines. Whereas with NDC, it's much more a point and click environments that we're making available, and where a lot of the servicing is going to be much easier, much more intuitive from a flow point of view. And there's also an area where we as Amadeus are focusing a lot on right, how can we make sure that we not only make more information available, but it will also make it much easier to work with NDC content for all our customers.

Borja Saki  7:52  
Thanks very much very clear, practical examples, and exciting to see that there's, I'm sure many more on the way. It's not all a clear road, though, is it? I mean, it's true that NDC has taken time to pick up the momentum we're starting to see today. So turning to you, Laila, can you tell us about the obstacles for adoption, how's the industry reacting to them, and what more needs to be done to unleash NDCs full potential?

Laila Ben Salah  8:20  
That's really a good question. And an important one, since many companies, people waited as they did not want to be early adoptors. Our approach was to start and collaborate from the beginning and learn as we went along. And of course, this had teething problems as with any new technology, but the advantage was, we had input into requirement and the key priorities for our business and customers. We do believe one of the main obstacles for adoption lies in the servicing of customers. So the post booking and mainly in this area, we have made quite some great strides together with Amadeus, to facilitate, for example, voluntary cancellations, or changes the way to handle involuntary changes and cancellations, which is really key in the challenges that we had in 2021 and might still be there in 2022. So we are making steps, baby steps, but we are slowly getting there trying to improve not only using NDC for content differentiation, but also improving the way that we customize and servicing our customers. And one of the challenges we still face is in the lack of uniformity in NDC. This is one of the obstacles that would deserve more attention from airlines from travel agencies, aggregators, put more emphasis and priority on standardization of NDC.

Borja Saki  9:56  
Thanks, thanks, Laila. Ludo, would you like to chime in?

Ludo Verheggen  10:01  
Yes, absolutely. So I think as Laila expressed very clear now, there are still challenges. It's a new technology. So it's to be expected, right that there are a lot goals and teething problems now where we've started this journey only a few years ago. And it's a new technology that is going to replace the technology that has been in place for more than 30 years, right. So we will need some time to get all the less obstacles and challenges out. And a lot of it will come down to collaboration, and indeed, the work that Travix together with with Amadeus that we have done in really working on 'Okay, so what are the most important use cases that we first work on?' and how can we make sure that we recreate those use cases in NDC, so that they are easy to use for the travel consultants. As Laila also said, it's true that the standard itself is probably still not as strong as it could be, meaning that there are still a lot of differences between airlines that have implemented NDC. However, here with the latest version that has been released at 21.3 version, we do believe that that's going to help us overcome a lot of the differences that today we're seeing between the implementations from airlines. There are two other challenges that I see on top of the pure technical part. And that one is around the ecosystem. It's absolutely great to see that innovative travel sellers, like Travix are really starting their journey at the very earliest stages. But we need all our partners to join this journey. No. And if you look at the ecosystem, there are a lot of partners that our travel center customers are working with, like mid and back office systems, booking tool providers, that also will need to make the jump to NDC and start working with the NDC content. So hopefully, we're going to see an acceleration of that in the rest of this year. And then there's one other challenge that's a bit different in the sense that with NDC, we are going to be replacing a 30 year old technology with a new technology. And it's not only a technological change, but it will also require a change in the ways of working off our industry. So in a way that requires a cultural shift, and travel sellers will need to start thinking about offers and orders instead of bookings and PNRs. When it comes to the travel consultants, they will have to move from a cryptic environment that they've been working for many decades with, towards a more graphical environment, where the graphical environments will bring a lot of benefits, a lot of opportunities, but it does require as well, a very different way of working. So that will take some time. And we need to be, let's say clear about that.

Borja Saki  12:41  
That's fascinating, Ludo. I mean, indeed, it looks like the transition to NDC won't happen overnight, right? And actually requires getting into the right mindset and some proper thinking. So I mean, this leads nicely into my next question. I'd like to know what is your one top tip to travel players wanting to join the NDC journey? Laila, perhaps I can go with you first.

Laila Ben Salah  13:06  
Yeah, I think it has been mentioned a few times by Ludo but also by myself, it requires collaboration. Collaboration has been critical to the success of NDC. Traffic's by being open we are we were able to collaborate with carriers, industry players, such as Amadeus, providing feedback on which NDC initiatives we are working and what they recommend for selling airlines products most effectively. So with this collaboration, this approach, we expect to keep increasing NDC and keep enhancing the solution and service provided to our customers. Because we have always been convinced of the value of NDC and NDC can bring differentiation and new playground to the travel industry. So it's very valuable and important to invite other players to join this journey as well. There has never been a better moment than right now. We have a lot of challenges. And this is a new way to invite everyone to explore the opportunities that NDC can bring. And since NDC scales further, we are really looking forward to forming new partners and strengthening existing ones to unlock new value in the travel retailing space. 

Borja Saki  14:27  
Ludo over to you. 

Ludo Verheggen  14:30  
Yeah, and I fully agree with Laila, I mean collaboration has been crucial until now for the success and it will remain very crucial if we really want to get this to the next level. Another element that will bring us to the next level, in my opinion, is experimentation, right? It's really important that all players involved, go out there. Take let's say a leap of faith and start experimenting with NDC. So that of course applies to the travel sellers, but it very much also applies yo the airlines, right? Come up with completely new, innovative products with combinations of solutions or with a level of personalization in the office that will really bring NDC to the next level. And that will boost the adoption of the whole industry of this new technology. There's so much more that we can do with NDC. So let's experiment and together find out where we can take NDC in let's say, this year and in the in the years to come.

Borja Saki  15:32  
Fantastic. I mean, that's very insightful. Laila and Ludo, for me, what resonates the most is the fact that NDC offers an innovation playground. No, that opens the door to so many retailing opportunities. It's a world of opportunities, really. And while we're on this journey, I'd like to explore now what's next for Travix and Amadeus on NDC and the wider retailing agenda. Can you comment on that?

Laila Ben Salah  15:59  
Yes, so we show continue, as always to collaborate with Amadeus and integrate new surfaces and API's, as they are ready to extend the functionality we have today. As we have a lot of experience in integrating and optimizing the services and are working very closely and in conjunction with Amadeus. We are also ready to expand the airlines we can pilot or partner with on this new technology. And with the existing airlines, we are also focusing at further expanding the routes and options we have on NDC offer. We do however, do this gradually in close collaboration with the airlines, of course, given the current uncertainties of markets opening and closing. But we are ready to add more airlines to accelerate the ones that we have and to make NDC working as much as possible and increase our share next year 2022.

Ludo Verheggen  17:01  
What I would add to that, from an Amadeus point of view, we are committed to drive NDC forward we've been so for the last few years. And this year, our plan is to ensure that NDC is really being adopted on a global scale, right, we already started with that. Last year at the end of 2021, we already had almost 60 markets worldwide, where NDC was actively being used by our travel sellers. And this year, we're planning to roll it out, let's say in all the remaining markets worldwide. And as I said, of course, we will also be dedicating a lot of efforts time and investment in making sure that more and more content is being made available. As a matter of fact, from a distribution point of view, we are currently working with more than 20 airlines that are being implemented into the Amadeus Travel Platform. And also on the IT side. We are progressing really nicely where we're working with more than 30 Airlines already that have signed up for the Altea NDC suite. So they can also enter into the next level of travel retailing. So with all of these initiatives, and with the whole international that we are seeing, we are convinced that 2022 is truly going to be the year at which NDC reaches global scale.

Borja Saki  18:16  
Wow, that's really powerful. I mean, I can really sense the commitment is absolutely there. And looks like the industry only has to benefit from this level of commitment and dedication. As we look ahead, if you had one wish, for NDC this year in 2022. What would it be? Ludo, I'll go with you first perhaps?

Ludo Verheggen  18:37  
Well, my one wish for 2022, would be to invite all the players in the travel industry to make their first steps with NDC. So if you haven't done so, start making that first step. Yes, we're not at the perfect situation yet there are still some challenges and some limitations that we need to overcome. But that will be the reality for quite some time. So the best way to move forward as industry and really get our travel retailing to the next level is by taking these steps together. And through collaboration. Make sure that we see rebuild travel and that we rebuild travel in the better way, thanks to NDC

Borja Saki  19:19  
Thanks Ludo, and Laila?

Laila Ben Salah  19:22  
Yeah, I fully agree we can only make this work by learning. I really hope for a good adoption of the NDC X platform from servicingand sales perspective since this is a good landscape to go beyond what we offer today. Not only for our customers but also for the travel agents the collaboration between the travel agents, the airlines, NDC, developers and aggregators. We will need each other to make this journey successful.

Borja Saki  19:53  
Thank you so much Laila and Ludo for sharing your time and expertise with us today. I think it's safe to say that it's definitely an exciting moment on the industry's NDC journey. For me what particularly resonated was that despite the challenges that remain, we're well on track as an industry to scale up NDC, and with that modern retailing, and both Amadeus and Travis are working hand in hand to drive this vision forward. We're seeing some practical examples today of how NDC is adding value already, such as new ancillary fees, and loyalty information, and I'm sure many more will follow suit in the coming months. It certainly looks like everyone in the industry will have something to gain from this transition to NEC. And finally, thank you to our listeners for joining the conversation. To stay up to date on the latest news from Amadeus. To catch the next episode in our series, check out the Insights section on our website, or follow us on Spotify or Apple