The first phase of a plan to adopt Iata’s New Distribution Capability has been introduced by a company selling British Airways tickets to the UK travel trade.
Bookings created through the NDC-ready online portal will be exempt from the £8 per journey group Distribution Technology Charge due to be introduced by BA from November 1, applicable to bookings created via a GDS.
Trade partners using the platform created by Lime World will be able to access the airline’s pricing and availability, including inclusive tour, seat only and published fares.
Lime’s system release is the first stage in an on-going development plan to adopt NDC, which will see richer features and functionality released to users over the coming weeks and months.
Lime permits tour operators in the UK to purchase standalone BA inclusive tour fares to self-package holidays with independently sourced ground arrangements.
The company’s head of commercial Matt Darlington said: “Whilst still a relatively new concept, Iata’s NDC is clearly paving the way for a new method of connectivity in the airline marketplace; one which British Airways is fully supporting with its Level 3 certification.
“As part of this drive, we saw an opportunity to align with British Airways’ NDC distribution and create a first stage connectivity to this technology path.
“Our platform upgrade lays the foundation to integrate additional NDC functionality over the next few months which, along with a continuous improvement programme and exemption from the DTC charge, promises our customers additional enhancements and market-leading technology.
“There have been several developments to the user experience already, such as inclusive pricing, results filtering, flight combination selections and training resources; all key in Lime’s early adoption of NDC.”