Travelport and American Express Global Business Travel have signed a
multi-year renewal agreement in which Amex GBT will upgrade to
Travelport Plus, the global distribution system launched in 2021 that
eventually will be the company’s sole GDS platform, replacing Apollo,
Galileo and Worldspan, Travelport announced Tuesday.
Travelport
did not provide a timeframe for the technology change but noted that
Amex GBT will have access to all New Distribution Capability content
available in Travelport Plus, adding that “by the end of 2022,
Travelport-connected travel retailers in 103 countries will have access
to NDC-enabled content” through Travelport Plus from one or more
airlines.
Multiple airlines have announced agreements to use the new platform
and provide NDC content. As of the third quarter, Travelport has
established NDC connections with Qantas and Singapore Airlines, has gone
live in most markets worldwide with American Airlines and by the end of
2022 expects to go live with United Airlines after a completed pilot
program, according to the company.
Further, Travelport plans to release NDC content for Air France-KLM
in the fourth quarter and expand to 100 countries. In early 2023, it
expects to add Lufthansa, Swiss Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels
Airlines and British Airways, with Emirates and Iberia “to follow
shortly thereafter".
In addition, Travelport during the second quarter deployed servicing
capabilities for paid ancillary services with American and is preparing
to roll out NDC servicing capabilities for Qantas and Singapore in the
third quarter, according to the company.
Source: Business Travel News