Flight consolidator Faremine has successfully integrated British Airways fares available only through new distribution capability (NDC) channels with its reservations systems, making them available to travel agents and tour operators.
Faremine confirmed British Airways NDC content is now available to book on faremine.com and through the company’s reservations team following a soft launch in mid-April.
The company worked with Amadeus and travel technology specialist Billian to launch British Airways as Faremine’s first NDC partner along with American Airlines.
Faremine commercial director Phil Pritchard said: “We pride ourselves on being industry innovators and we’re delighted to bring BA NDC to market with Amadeus NDC-X.”
He argued: “NDC is the biggest step-change in airline distribution since internet booking engines and 2023 will see rapid NDC take-up.
“Thanks to the collaboration with Amadeus, Faremine has a road map to launch many more NDC partners in the coming weeks and months.”
Pritchard added: “For agents and tour operators, this signifies seamless access to NDC exclusive content and lower fares. We’ve already seen business class NDC fares over £900 cheaper than traditional content.”
He told Travel Weekly: “We’ve been looking at NDC for seven or eight years, but there has not been a solution fit for purpose until now.
“You could sell an NDC ticket five years ago, but you couldn’t service it. There was not a full-service solution.
“That has changed. Amadeus has cracked it, although there is a still a long way to go.”
Pritchard insisted: “Trade partners don’t need to do anything different. Agents can just go online and book or call our reservations team.”
He said: “We have our own booking engine integrated with Amadeus NDC-X. It sells itself on price alone, although NDC flights are not always cheaper.
“The traditional content is still there. Trade partners have access to everything they had access to before, there is just another layer.”
Pritchard added: “We have a pipeline of other airlines ready to roll.”
Faremine works almost exclusively through the trade, as a consolidator with all the major agency consortia and with independent tour operators as well as with specialists in premium travel.