FCM enhances NDC capabilities in EMEA

FCM Travel has announced several significant developments in its drive to book and service NDC content for customers in the EMEA region, following extensive testing of NDC-enabled solutions with Amadeus and other leading technology providers.

As a driver partner in the Amadeus-NDC [X] program, FCM and parent company Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) have successfully booked NDC airline content within the new NDC-enabled version of Amadeus desktop solution Selling Platform Connect. This milestone followed close collaboration and testing over several months of the new NDC enabled user interface in Selling Platform Connect for both leisure and business travel environments.

In the UK specifically, FCM will be able to book and service British Airways NDC content via new technology capabilities from the end of this month. This means FCM clients and their travellers will have access to British Airways’ latest NDC content, including British Airways’ short-haul and long haul NDC fares, ancillary bookings, allowing FCM consultants to fully service this content. 

In Germany, FCM has been able to book and service Lufthansa NDC content for customers since early 2019 via the TMC’s preferred aggregator in this market. This has ensured clients have had access to all Lufthansa content, including the airline’s Business Light Fares.  

The next stage on FCM’s NDC roadmap is to ensure online booking tools improve their ability to integrate and display NDC content, and therefore providing a better user experience and wider range of content. 

Nicola Ping, Manager, Air Content & Distribution EMEA, Flight Centre/FCM commented: “The sole purpose of our approach to integrating NDC has been to ensure that the needs of our customers come first and that we provide clients with relevant NDC content via a scalable, workable long-term solution. Our aim is to balance booking NDC content with a fit for purpose solution, ensuring everything enhances and personalises our customers’ experience.

Our strategy has been to take a longer-term view and ensure we maximise the benefits NDC brings to the travellers, not only for search, book but most importantly around service capabilities. We have spent spending considerable time piloting and testing how to deliver this content via a multi-level approach so that our customers benefit positively from NDC. This will ensure that all of the support and functionality that our customers need can be delivered.

“These pilots have continued to uncover several improvement areas and limitations, which we are sharing with both customers, airlines and aggregators in tri-party meetings and via IATA NDC industry sessions chaired by myself and Marcus Eklund, FCM’s Global Managing Director, so that we can collaborate towards a better solution not just for ourselves, but on behalf of the customer and TMC community,” said Nicola Ping.