Oman Air has received the level 4 New Distribution Capability (NDC) certification from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This comes in addition to the airline’s existing level 3 NDC certification, making Oman Air one of the first airlines on the latest standard, NDC 18.2
NDC is a key transformation project launched by IATA to modernize airline distribution. The NDC standard enhances the capability of communications between airlines and travel agents by enabling an airline to make sales offers directly in real time, which will also permit airlines to both define and price their products in any way they wish.
Paul Starrs, chief commercial officer of Oman Air, said: “With buy-in from major travel agencies, aggregators and online travel agencies, the NDC initiative at Oman Air is on a path from experimentation and testing to full-scale production.”
Umesh Chhiber, vice president — revenue optimization and pricing, said: “The primary drivers for NDC at Oman Air is the revenue opportunity through the simple-to-use travel agent portal and APIs for online travel agents, aggregators, etc. that allow product differentiation, ancillary sales, dynamic pricing and exclusive content. Adopting NDC is unlocking value through our travel agent channel by providing them with features and exclusive content that is difficult to access today.”