Greetings from Travel Distribution News.
Last week was about the gap between understanding NDC and actually running it.
Accelya's Tye Radcliffe put it plainly: the constraint was never understanding, it is making change without breaking what already works. ASKY's Martial Daté Tevi-Benissan made the commercial case for the same problem, arguing NDC has to earn its place as a tool, not a project pursued because everyone else is talking about it.
The rest of the week traced the same line. Travelport and Travelsoft are testing MCP across 400 agencies. Checkout.com and Agoda quietly solved a settlement problem harder than anything AI-branded. NuFlights' Mohandas Unni says booking is only 40% of the job, the other 60% is where NDC breaks. British Airways is giving up its own NDC schema for Amadeus Altéa. And Travelport's Air Canada update exposes a servicing gap NDC still has not closed.
The industry knows what NDC is for. It is still working out how to run it without breaking the business underneath.
Let's get into it.
Accelya’s Tye Radcliffe: “The Constraint Is Not Understanding. It Is Making Change Without Breaking What Already Works.”
Two thirds of airlines are implementing NDC in some form, but only 27 percent have taken real steps toward full Offer and Order architecture. Accelya's Tye Radcliffe argues the gap isn't understanding, it's the risk of touching systems that already work. His answer for emerging markets: modularity over big bang transformation.
NEWS BRIEFS
While Everyone Covered the AI Angle, Checkout.com and Agoda Quietly Solved a Harder Settlement Problem
Agoda now pays hotels through virtual cards instead of batch wire transfers, cutting supplier settlement to real time. For African and MENA OTAs facing cross-border fees and multi-day transfers, that infrastructure gap matters as much as NDC connectivity.
ASKY’s Martial Daté Tevi-Benissan: “NDC Must Be a Commercial Tool, Not a Vanity Project”
For ASKY's Commercial Director, NDC has to justify itself with a return, not adoption for its own sake. Fuel and taxes dwarf distribution savings on the airline's cost sheet, and the focus for now stays on building ASKY's digital foundation.
NuFlights’ Mohandas Unni: “Booking Is Only 40% of the Job. The Other 60% Is Where NDC Breaks.”
NuFlights' CEO has rejected five airlines over unstable APIs, arguing the real NDC test is post-ticketing servicing, not booking. He points to Riyadh Air's greenfield architecture as a benchmark and forecasts the aggregator field shrinking to 10-12 serious players within five years.
Why British Airways Is Giving Up Its Own NDC Schema to Amadeus Altéa
BA is retiring the in-house NDC schema it built over a decade, moving distribution onto Amadeus Altéa NDC instead. The promise is faster onboarding and better post-booking servicing, historically NDC's weakest link. No go-live date yet, and no word on whether GDS surcharges change too.
Travelport’s Air Canada Flight Pass Update Exposes a Servicing Gap NDC Still Hasn’t Solved
Travelport now lets agencies shop, book and service Air Canada's prepaid Flight Pass credits without leaving Smartpoint. Few African or Gulf carriers offer that level of agency workflow support for prepaid products today, a gap tied to the same BSP settlement model.
Travelport and Travelsoft Bet on MCP. Now Comes the Real Test Across 400 Agencies.
Travelport's TripServices API now runs inside Travelsoft's Orchestra hub, reaching 400 European agencies through MCP. The architecture splits reasoning from execution: Claude interprets the request, TripServices books against live inventory. Only 8% of travellers currently trust AI to complete a booking outright.
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
That is it for this issue. If this was useful, forward it to a colleague in travel distribution, travel technology, or payments. If you have a tip, a data point, or want to be featured in TDN, reply directly to this email.
Wishing you a fruitful week ahead!
Gustave Sugira
Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Travel Distribution News
Kigali, Rwanda