7
Airlines are making progress. Many have begun to tackle the design stage and IATA is
providing support to help airlines resolve common issues.
If this is such a long and complex programme with
incomplete standards and systems not yet fully
designed, one could ask why even engage on such a
long and arduous change programme. There are
papers which talk about the benefits of Airline
Retailing
1)
as a concept as well as Offers and Order
2)
more specifically.
These value drivers have already motivated several
airlines to start their move towards Offers and
Orders. The Lufthansa Group has publicly talked
about their process and progress towards Offers and
Orders, with a goal of implementing and being off
PSS by 2030. In October 2023 at the IATA World
Passenger Symposium, Air France-KLM announced
a EUR500m investment in this massive digital
transformation programme, and further stated that
they are in an extensive process of vendor evaluation
to support their future-state architecture. Finnair,
Saudia and British Airways have committed to
Amadeus' non-legacy PSS product, Nevio. Sabre has
announced the launch of Mosaic,
their move towards a modular Offer and Order
environment. At the same time, the non-PSS vendors
across the board, from Offer to Order to Settle to
Deliver, companies such as PROS, Lufthansa
Systems, OpenJaw, Accelya, Datalex, IBS, ink, Res2,
Maureva and many others (apologies for those we
didn't call out – this is not an exhaustive list) are
engaged with individual airlines, with IATA and with
each other to develop towards Offers and Orders.
Finally, from our own experience, we can say that
there has never been a time when we have been
more busy developing concepts and transition
designs with airlines all over the world, of all sizes.
Recognising that the industry model is evolving,
we identified the main benefits of the Offers and
Orders model such as personalised offers,
dynamic pricing, ancillary bundling, improved
relationships with travel agencies and an increase
in direct sales share.
This foresight got us started on this journey even
before we could benefit from all its features.
We began our journey with confidence but soon
realised the need for continuous learning and
strategic adjustments to our roadmap. Early on,
we diversified the options available to our partners
by adding new IT providers and exploring different
connection options through NDC aggregators.
By focusing on these areas, Air Europa aims to
enhance its competitive edge, improve customer
loyalty and drive growth in the highly competitive
airline industry.
When asked "What might Air Europa's
journey with Offers and Orders look like?"
Raquel Portillo Escrich of Air Europa
responded:
Air Europa's journey with Offers and Orders is still in
its early stages. However, after the first year of NDC
implementation, we are now more confident and
focused on building a robust NDC network with
various IT providers, travel agencies and different NDC
connections.
1)
McKinsey "Where is the Value in Airline Retailing?"
2)
IATA Modern Airline Retailing Business Case
