NDC adoption drives surge in direct airline bookings: Traxo

Since the surge of New Distribution Capability (NDC) focus and adoption spurred by American Airlines in 2023, Traxo has seen a material uptick in non-TMC bookings for air travel.

Through the complete on- and off-platform bookings Traxo captures – as the provider of real-time corporate travel data capture – and via its NDC status monitoring site, NDCtracker.com, the company has observed a significant NDC adoption trend towards in-direct air bookings, rising from 18.7% in January to 30.6% in June.

Andres Fabris, CEO and Founder of Traxo, remarks: “While NDC was intended to be purely about upgraded technology, some airlines have shaped their NDC-related policies to achieve commercial goals such as direct bookings. As a result, NDC has sometimes been “weaponized” to encourage corporate travelers to book directly, attracted by benefits like enhanced personalization, dynamic pricing, and cost savings.”

Andres continues: “The NDC landscape has transformed rapidly, significantly reshaping corporate travel. The push for direct distribution by airlines and active corporate engagement on our platform underscores a shift towards more cost-effective and flexible booking options. There is no going back, so staying abreast of developments and booking patterns in real-time is crucial. Traxo’s free NDCtracker.com offers the most efficient resource for industry professionals to do so.”

Launched one year ago, Traxo’s NDCtracker.com monitors 73 airlines worldwide, facilitating NDC’s role in reshaping the sale of air products and enhancing corporate travel management. In the last year, more than ten major airlines have made notable announcements about adopting NDC.

The tracker was developed to address the challenges travel managers face in staying on top of current NDC news and the concerns about how it will affect their travel programs. The platform has quickly become essential, amassing substantial registrations and user feedback, indicating its central role in transitioning to NDC standards.

Based on Traxo’s observations of announcements via the tracker, airlines are taking  various approaches to stimulate NDC adoption:

• Agency Assistance: Provide agencies with financial support to make NDC updates
• Fare Access: Pull fares from EDIFACT and/or reserve inventory for only NDC sellers
• NDC Discounts: Purposefully lower the prices of NDC fares and ancillaries
• EDIFACT Fees: Impose distribution surcharges either across the board or for select fares and routes

Traxo encourages collaboration with airlines and industry partners to enhance the NDC Tracker resource. Interested parties are invited to subscribe to Traxo’s periodic updates for the latest developments in NDC implementations, fare availability, new EDIFACT fees, and updates on seller relationships.