European travel management company Travel Planet says it will be ready to provide American Airlines’ NDC content through its proprietary booking tool from 3 April.

Paris-based Travel Planet says it began work on a direct connection to AA’s NDC content less than four weeks ago and will move from its test environment to fully live in its Click and Control booking tool “definitely before 3 April”.

In December, American Airlines told agencies that they need to connect to its NDC channels by April to ensure access to its full range of content. Without such a connection, the airline said TMCs will lose access to “over 40 per cent of fares available today via third-party legacy technology channels”.

The airline confirmed earlier this week that the change will take place on 3 April and although those fares will not be bookable without an NDC connection they will still be visible in EDIFACT-based channels.

In a note to its agency partners, Thomas Rajan, the airline’s vice president, global sales, said the three major global distribution systems – Amadeus, Travelport and Sabre – and “several travel
technology providers” will be ready to provide connections to its
NDC content by April 3. He added: “Like any significant technology transition, some
providers will offer more servicing features and functionalities in
their initial releases than others.”

Some agencies, particularly in North America, have urged American Airlines to postpone its plans, with BCD Travel this week issuing an open letter that, although not naming the airline, called for “partnership and collaboration,” not “forcing solutions that aren’t
completely ready” when it comes to the introduction of NDC content.

BTN Europe stablemate The Beat identified AmTrav, Navan and Spotnana as outliers that are already live on direct connections with the airline.

Travel Planet, meanwhile, says it has delivered Lufthansa’s NDC content for more
than five years and also features NDC content from British Airways,
Iberia and Air France-KLM, all of which is delivered via direct connections to the
respective airlines.

Some 86 per cent of the tech-led TMC’s customer transactions are conducted online, according to Europe’s Leading TMCs 2022.