An Inside Look at the Progress to Make Booking Biz Travel Easier

One of the things business travelers like best about New Distribution Capability, or NDC, is its potential to provide them with access to flight deals and amenities that they might not be able to find elsewhere. Airlines like it because, in theory, it allows them to market their content better and differentiate themselves from their competitors.

The problem is, the distribution method is pretty new, and it doesn’t yet live up to all of the hype associated with it. Global distribution providers and travel management companies have been willing to adopt New Distribution Capability, adding it to their current offerings, but there is still a long way to go.

So far, the new technology only serves a very narrow purpose, and it threatens to tip the balance of power strongly in the airlines’ favor. With so many different players with different interests involved, establishing industry standards has been a slow process.

Ilia Kostov, an exec at leading global distribution provider Amadeus, had an honest chat with Skift about where the distribution technology is at, and what progress is being made.

Check out this story, and many more, below.

If you have any feedback about the newsletter or news tips, feel free to reach out via email at ic@skift.com or tweet @ikcarey.

— Isaac Carey, Travel Reporter

Featured Stories

Charting the Path to Easier Booking for Business Travelers: Amadeus Exec Explains: New distribution technology has a lot of potential to improve booking for business travelers, but first airlines are going to have to make some compromises.

Emirates President Slams Airbus and Boeing for Lack of Reliability: Emirates President Tim Clark clearly had an agenda on Wednesday speaking with the media. He said he is tired of reliability challenges with new airplanes, and he wants suppliers to get their act together — quickly. Somebody had to say it.

Audi’s Silvercar Launches New Car Rental Loyalty Program: Silvercar’s new loyalty program is a good incentive for both current and prospective customers to try out the service. It also may be a shot in the arm to a plateauing company.

Ryanair Names Company Veteran as CEO of Main Airline: Given that Michael O’Leary is sticking around, you’ve got to wonder how much control the new Ryanair airline CEO will really have.

The Future Of Travel

Booking Holdings’ Push Into Homesharing Feels Like a Return to Its Roots: The hotel business was never an easy one for online travel companies. Far from it. But compared with the complexities of alternative accommodations, executives at Booking Holdings may come to regard the hotel business as a relative cakewalk.

Smartair Raises $6 Million for Dynamic Packaging Tech: Last week travel startups announced more than $46 million in funding. Of note, two of the companies, Smartair and Tastemakers, are making bets on Africa’s online travel growth. Meanwhile, online travel company Hostelworld has invested in Tipi, a software provider for hostel managers.

Google Maps Poised to Be an $11 Billion Business in 4 Years: When you’re Google, you can take more than a decade to hone a product such as Google Maps and attract more than a billion users without having to worry that it isn’t making lots of money. But the monetization of Google Maps will soon start in earnest, and travel marketers, for the most part, will hustle to get in.

Travel Reporter Isaac Carey [ic@skift.com] curates the Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Thursday.

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