Latest news and trends (2024–2025) in NDC distribution
The period of 2024 and 2025 has brought about accelerated evolution of the NDC ecosystem. New standards and certifications are emerging, strategic partnerships are being formed, technological trends like AI personalisation are entering the scene, and an increasing share of sales from leading airlines is transitioning to NDC channels. Below is an overview of the most important developments and trends:
New IATA certificates and standards
IATA launched the programme in 2022 Airline Retailing Maturity (ARM) index which replaced the older certification system (NDC Level 1-4). ARM index introduces a more comprehensive assessment. player maturity in distribution through three domains: Technical capabilities (validation across over 75 possible NDC/One Order functionalities supported by the provider or airline), Partnerships (volume of transactions and successful cooperation with other value chain participants) and Achieved value (measuring business results achieved by modern distribution). The idea is that instead of multiple certificates (for NDC, One Order, etc.), an introduction unique confirmation which shows how far a company has progressed in its implementation Offer order This also provides flexibility – companies can certify only those functionalities they actually use, instead of having to implement unnecessary elements for “level” recognition.. By 2025, we see that many aggregators and technology providers have acquired ARM certificate. For example, TPConnects if 2025. praised that he was awarded Airline Retailing Maturity Status within the IATA programme, which confirms their status as a leading innovator in travel retailing. They also received the IATA Financial Gateway certificate, indicating their payment solutions' compliance with IATA standards..
From a technical point of view, NDC standard continues to developi – the last significant versions were NDC 20.3 and 21.3 which brought improvements in order management and ancillary services integration. Finnair in July 2025 published the migration of its system to NDC version 21.3 (with the help of the TPConnects Astra platform), highlighting that this version brings full backward compatibility i becomes the basis for future innovations that IATA plans. IATA has announced that new functionalities will be developed precisely on top of the 21.3 standard, which suggests that older versions may gradually be abandoned. Many airlines and aggregators rushed to comply with this – at the end of 2024, these were held IATA NDC Hackathon Workshops for the transition to 21.3.
In parallel, the development of the concept is also underway ONE Order, which is the next phase after NDC – the aim is to unify the PNR, ticket, EMD and other documents into a single “Order” booking for the traveller. In 2024 and 2025, several airlines (e.g. Lufthansa, British Airways) have experimentally issued the first ONE Order orders, but widespread application is still expected. However, technologically, NDC and One Order go hand in hand – many aggregators are already structuring their systems around order management and will be ready to support ONE Order when airlines offer it. The IATA ARM index also takes into account the implementation of ONE Order elements in the maturity assessment.
Partnerships and market consolidation
In 2024 and 2025, the trend continued partnerships between specialist NDC providers between traditional and new actors. One interesting example is Kyte – a platform for LCC content – which entered into a strategic partnership with an aggregator in July 2024 TPConnects. This collaboration has given TPConnects access to the largest European low-cost carriers (easyJet, Ryanair) Through the Kyte API, TPConnects has expanded its content offering for its users, particularly corporate agencies keen on LCC options. On the other hand, the Kyte team has gained a strong distributor in TPConnects, confirming their CEO's statement that they want to “make LCC content easily accessible with NDC solutions, especially for business travel”.”. Continuing that trend, in early 2025. PKFare, a major Asian aggregator and wholesaler, has announced the integration of Kyte content to offer LCC deals to its 2,000+ clients (agencies and TMCs). PKFare stated that they have coverage of over 600 air carriers in the offering, one-third of which is LCC, and that the partnership with Kyte will further strengthen their low-cost offering for leisure and business travel.
Partnerships are made and on the route GDS – NDC providers. In July 2025, at the GBTA convention, the company Accelya (which is behind key NDC technologies, including the former Farelogix) has launched a programme NDC FastTrack together with partners Sabre i American Express GBT. This initiative brings together GDS (Sabre), the largest corporate agency (Amex GBT) and NDC technology provider (Accelya) to jointly accelerate NDC adoption in the corporate segment. Accelya revealed on this occasion that in 2024 it recorded 146% increase in NDC volume in the corporate segment naspram 2023, and that their platforms now process over 50% of all global NDC transactions. This is an impressive figure which suggests consolidation – a few major tech players (Accelya, Amadeus/Navitaire, Sabre) hold the majority of NDC connections for airlines. The Accelya-Sabre-GBT collaboration aims to align development roadmaps, identify functionality gaps and share use case examples to drive more corporate clients towards NDC..
Meanwhile, GDSs continued incorporate NDC through partnerships with airlines. Travelport Emirates launched NDC content on the Travelport+ platform in June 2024., And in December 2024. Sabre Emirates has started distributing NDC offers to its users. Through their partnership with Emirates, these two major GDSs have enabled agencies to compare Emirates' dynamic NDC offers with others (e.g. seats, additional baggage and personalised fare classes are also integrated, which Emirates offers only via NDC). Amadeus At the end of 2023, it announced the expansion of NDC integrations into the American market, signing agreements with several American carriers and launching the so-called. NDC in the Americas initiative.
are also seen on the market Mergers and acquisitionsAlthough 2024/2025 has not seen mega-acquisitions (like Sabre's purchase of Farelogix in 2018), many smaller NDC start-ups are entering larger systems through partnerships or investments. Amadeus I invested in some NDC projects and intensified the development of our own NDC aggregator (Amadeus NDC [X] programme)., Travelport Through restructuring and technological investment, it has created a unique platform, Travelport+, which essentially functions as an aggregator (multi-source content)., a Sabre through its partnership with Accely, it leveraged this synergy to build NDC capabilities faster. Further development is expected consolidationIt's likely that some of today's independent aggregators will enter the orbits of larger corporations (either through acquisition or strategic investment), while GDS companies themselves will become increasingly similar to aggregators.
Technological trends in the NDC ecosystem
As NDC becomes mainstream, new technologies and concepts are also entering the distribution of airline services. Artificial intelligence (AI) i machine learning are mentioned as key tools for the next phase – it is predicted that airlines will use AI to create personalised offers (e.g. dynamic bundling tailored to individual traveller preferences) and Predictive pricing. Some platforms are already announcing AI-dreven NDC-aanbodbeheer, where the system automatically tests various offer variants to maximise conversions. Aggregators and tech firms like Accelye and IBS are working on solutions that will enable NDC data real-time analytics ZA airlines, so that they can better understand market needs and shape their offers (this is an important shift as airlines previously received very limited feedback on customer searches and behaviour through GDS).
Continuous pricing (continuous pricing instead of fixed “stepping” classes) is another trend enabled by NDC. Namely, without NDC, airlines were limited to a certain number of fare classes and had to increase prices in jumps. With the NDC API, prices can be fluidly changed in small increments depending on demand. This is already being practiced by some carriers like the Lufthansa Group and Air France-KLM. Aggregators have noticed that this type of dynamic tariffs can result in lower prices for end customers on average, which they use as an argument to switch to NDC.
One Order As we've already mentioned – the technological trend of consolidating all travel elements into a single order record – it will simplify post-sales processes (one document instead of a separate PNR, e-ticket, EMD). IATA has certified the first One Order agencies and providers (such as American Express GBT's trybok and some European TMCs) in 2023 and 2024. It's not yet widely in production, but it will likely come to life with the first legacy carriers in 2025/2026.
Omnichannel sales and a “retailing” approach also trending: airlines want to provide a consistent passenger experience whether they are buying on their website, through an agent or on an OTA. NDC is the way to that goal – it's how they place same offers and same content to everyone. In practice, this means introducing elements online retail you can use sales: for example, displaying reviews, cross-selling hotels and car rental services within the NDC flow, offering specific discounts to loyal members, etc. Skift Research In 2025, it was announced that airlines are increasingly becoming “travel retailers”, with NDC+OneOrder being the technological backbone of it.
An interesting technological shift is that GDS platforms are evolving into aggregators – Sabre has stated, for example, that it now aggregates content from multiple sources: the traditional ATPCO/EDIFACT feed, NDC APIs, LCC direct connections, and even other services (hotel, rail) within a single platform. This means that the GDS architecture is also adapting, moving towards cloud-native solutions Which handles API calls and larger volumes of real-time data better.
Adoption of NDC by major airlines
In the past two years, the largest global airlines have significantly shifted sales towards NDC channels. American Airlines made a drastic move in April 2023, removing a good chunk of the lowest fares from GDSs and making them available only via NDC connection. The result was that by the end of 2024. 471 TP3T of all AA bookings through intermediaries went via the NDC. (direct API connections or aggregators). The American introduced and provisional commissions to incentivise agencies to join – e.g. 5% on certain cards in the second half of 2023, which was then extended through 2024.. Although the move initially caused resentment (especially among corporate agencies accustomed to full content), statistics show that agencies are adapting: according to a Garner survey, in 2024 on average around 13% indirect reservations Globally, it is done via NDC, while in the TMC segment the percentage is slightly lower (6%) but is growing rapidly..
European companies are also seeing a surge: Lufthansa Group It has had a GDS fee since 2015, but in 2022-2023 they started book exclusive inventory for NDC (certain cheapest “light” fares are only available via NDC or direct). This has paid off – T2RL analysis states that Lufthansa's direct (NDC+web) distribution share reached record levels in 2024.. Lufthansa also recorded significant increase in ancillary service salesThrough the NDC channel, passengers buy more ancillaries on average, which has increased revenue per booking.. British Airways reports similar trends – with NDC they managed to offer special baggage and seat prices to agencies, and they state 38% higher "attach rate" ancillaries not through NDC bookings but through standard distribution. Singapore Airlines has made some premium add-ons (e.g., buy-up to premium economy, special lounge packages) available exclusively through NDC, demonstrating its desire to motivate the use of new channels.
Globally, IATA predicts that By 2026, around 65% of all indirect bookings will be NDC-powered.. This is very ambitious, but the trend line is moving in that direction – from 2023 to 2024, the number of NDC transactions increased by a triple-digit percentage.. In the US, according to ARC, at the beginning of 2024. NDC accounts for 18.21% of all ARC issues. (compared with 12.5% in 2023 and 7.1% in 2022), showing accelerated adoption. Navan (formerly TripActions), as one of the modern corporate platforms, announced that in 2024 around 24% of its airline tickets were purchased via NDC sources, with savings for clients of up to 16% per fare thanks to avoiding GDS fees.
Of course, challenges remain. Travel Management the sector is still looking for solutions for functional gaps NDC-a (e.g. pre-paid booking control, quality ticket modification options, duty-of-care tools integrated with NDC, etc.). However, through the combined efforts of technology providers, agencies, and airlines, these shortcomings are gradually being addressed. As Accelya's CEO stated in 2025: “The industry is finally uniting to accelerate NDC – we have long believed that NDC would become the main standard, and now it is really happening.”.
The air ticket distribution market has entered a phase deep transformations. NDC aggregators have established themselves as an essential part of the ecosystem, bringing agility, innovation, and new content sources to agencies and OTAs. Traditional GDSs are not disappearing, but they are adapting – integrating NDC content and partnerships to remain relevant. For travel agencies and OTA platforms, the key to success will be Find the right mixto take advantage of the best of both worlds. With the rapid evolution of standards and increasing support from major airlines (both through benefits and pressure), it is clear that The NDC from the pilot project has grown into the new normal in distribution. Agencies that get involved now – whether through direct connections, aggregators, or GDS NDC – will be better positioned in a competitive market where a richer offer at a lower price what the ultimate traveller expects.
