Today, customers want personalization, efficiency, and seamless experience on any channel. Modern Retailing, supported by the implementation of NDC and related standards, can achieve this and move airline distribution away from legacy artifacts and into the future.
The journey is well underway, but there is more to be achieved.
This web page offers a comprehensive overview of the IATA standards and programs enabling value creation through Airline Retailing. Useful information and resources are also made available to support organizations across the value chain in planning their transition - from strategy to initiation and implementation.
A world of Offers and Orders
Explore the IATA standards supporting the implementation of capabilities that drive the industry transition to Modern Airline Retailing:
Retailing with Offers
Delivering with Orders
Airline Retailing Knowledge Hub
Your one-stop-shop for useful guidance and resources that support your organization in planning this transition.
Explore the below sections and find the information you need - from factsheets and guidance through to practical tools, implementation case studies and thought leadership.
Factsheets
- NDC factsheet: the NDC program, the NDC standard, and more.
- Dynamic Offers factsheet: the combination of dynamic pricing, continuous pricing, and dynamic bundling capabilities.
- ONE Order facthseet: one reference, one process, one industry.
- Settlement with Orders factsheet: a lean XML data exchange standard and a process simplifying the settlement between travel industry partners.
- Airline Retailing Maturity index (ARM index) factsheet: the ARM index helps airlines and their partners assess where they are on the journey towards a world of 100% Offers and Orders and provides visibility on new capability developments they may consider, to drive more benefits going forward.
Guidance
- Modern Airline Retailing - A Business Case: this document focuses on the next phase of the industry journey to Modern Airline Retailing, that entails a significant transformation of the IT infrastructure and underlying processes, in order to enable airlines to fully retail their products without constraints. It summarizes findings from the Consortium - a group of airlines that was formed under the IATA umbrella in August 2022.
- Get started with Airline Retailing: the primary purpose of this paper is to provide airlines with the necessary understanding to start their transformation journey.
- Get started with NDC: this document is being updated and will be added soon. Please, do not hesitate to reach out with any questions at: airlineretailing@iata.org. Thank you for your understanding.
- Dynamic Offers - a quick reference guide
- ONE Order transition study
- The Standards Retailer and Supplier Interline Agreement (SRSIA)
- NDC guide for Travel Sellers
- NDC mini-guide for Travel Management Companies
- Being NDC-ready: an essential guide for Corporate Travel Managers (V.2.0 - 2022)
- Distribution and Services RFP Framework for Corporate Buyers
- Taking the Reins - the Travel Buyers' vision of Business Travel in NDC (TMAG, 2017)
Discover the IATA Advisory Councils and Groups that provide the Strategic Industry Governance supporting the industry transition to Modern Airline Retailing:
- The Distribution Advisory Council (DAC) acts as advisor to the IATA Board of Governors and works closely with IATA management on all matters referred to it by the Director General and related to industry distribution.
- The Digital Transformation Advisory Council (DTAC) acts as advisor to the IATA Board of Governors and works closely with IATA management on all matters referred to it by the Director General and related to industry transformation and aviation industry data.
- The Industry Financial Advisory Council acts as advisor to the IATA Board of Governors, the Director General, other Advisory Councils, IATA management and other relevant IATA bodies on matters concerning industry financial services and standards, and related policy aspects.
IATA also engages with key corporations and travel management companies in the business travel arena with the objective to gather feedback and inputs into the transformational journey to Modern Airline Retailing:
- The Travel Manager Advisory Group (TMAG) comprises corporate travel managers and procurement professionals from key corporations in Europe and North America. It was formed by IATA to act as a constructive critical voice and provide consultation on NDC and related initiatives.
- The Global Travel Management Executive Council (GTEC) comprises senior executives from leading global multinational and local Travel Management Companies (TMC) in the international travel agency ecosystem. It was established by IATA with the objective to act at a strategic level as an executive and visionary council that provides a constructive critical voice on NDC and all other TMC-related initiatives.
Case Studies & Implementer Soundbites
We have compiled implementation presentations, case studies, use cases, and interviews from industry players with different levels of implementation maturity. Find the ones applicable to your needs in the links below:
Airline Retailing Implementation Soundbites series:
- Airline Retailing at Air Canada
- Airline Retailing at Air France - KLM (part 1)
- Airline Retailing at Air France - KLM (part 2)
- Airline Retailing at American Airlines
- Airline Retailing at Finnair
- Airline Retailing at LATAM
- Airline Retailing at Oman Air
- Airline Retailing at Singapore Airlines
- Airline Retailing at Swiss International Air Lines
- Airline Retailing at United
- Airline Retailing at Thomalex
- Airline Retailing at Spotnana
- Airline Retailing at Deloitte (the corporate customer perspective)
Concrete implementation examples:
Tech Tools
- Airline Retaling Maturity (ARM) index registry is the sole source for industry recognition of player’s capabilities enabled by the IATA EASD standards.
- AirTech Zone - the IATA Developer Portal is an open platform to access IATA and open industry innovative resources (e.g., standards, schemas, API's, datasets, etc.) available to the external developer community.
- Distribution Schemas space enables you to access and download the distribution schemas (the current NDC 21.3, or older versions).
- The Open API Hub - APIs supporting airline distribution processes, including shop, order, pay capabilities irrespective of distribution channel.
Thought Leadership
- Modern Airline Retailing - A Business Case: this document focuses on the next phase of the industry journey to Modern Airline Retailing, that entails a significant transformation of the IT infrastructure and underlying processes, in order to enable airlines to fully retail their products without constraints. It summarizes findings from the Consortium - a group of airlines that was formed under the IATA umbrella in August 2022. (IATA - Consortium, 2023)
- Servicing in NDC - Where are you?: The NDC schema makes streamlined and automated servicing possible, with the potential to deliver a better experience than what is possible via traditional EDIFACT distribution. Yet, there are legacy constraints that block some servicing capabilities,and having a value chain conversation can help to iron out implementation challenges of servicing. (IATA, 2023)
- Airline Retailing: an industry vision for Offers and Orders (IATA, 2021)
- Reshaping the AIrline Organization for the Future of Retail (IATA - BCG study, 2022)
- The vendors’ view on transition to a world of Offers and Orders (IATA x TiM white paper, 2022)
- Airline retailing: the value at stake (McKinsey, 2019)
The Airline Retailing Newsletter - The Hub - is your gateway to regular and timely updates on IATA's Airline Retailing and Distribution programs and initiatives.
You can find our latest edition below and we invite you to join our global subscriber community and start receiving the newsletter and all related updates straight to your inbox.
Airline Retailing Newsletter latest edition:
- Airline Retailing News: May-June 2023 edition
- Airline Retailing News: March-April 2023 edition
- For a selection of articles from our past editions, visit the Airline Retailing News Hub
If you need any assistance, or wish to propose a topic for our upcoming editions, please, do not hesitate to contact us.
Airline Retailing in Action
Get Started!
Possible next steps to consider are:
- Define your strategic objectives in Distribution & Payment
- Determine your approach to channel & content management, as well as product development
- Develop a business case for short and long-term value and required investment
- Establish an actionable roadmap and engage your trade, sales, and channel partners
- Understand the implications for your organization, talent, culture, and new ways of working
For a quick summary of practical deployment recommendations and information, aligned to your type of business (i.e., Airlines, Sellers, Corporate Buyers, Developers), we invite you to visit the Get Started with Airline Retailing section of our website.
The IATA SMEs and Regional Offices are also here to support you with your planning and actual journey towards Modern Airline Retailing.
Please, do not hesitate to contact us.
Stay informed
Sign up for our newsletter - the Airline Retailing Hub - to stay current on IATA's Airline Retailing programs and initiatives.