NDC Adoption: What's Taking So Long?

BTN Next Takeaway: TMCs lag behind leisure channels, especially OTAs, in NDC bookings, partly due to their complex tech structures. Despite the so-called 500 percent increase in TMC NDC bookings from 2022 to 2024 as cited by Accelya, the overall share remains low. Amadeus indicated full implementation of its current NDC agreements will take several years.

By Michael B. Baker / March 20, 2025 / Contact Reporter

Travel management company New Distribution Capability bookings, as a percentage of total bookings, trailed NDC bookings in leisure channels by 10 percentage points, according to proprietary data from advisory service Garner. The gap was even starker in comparison to OTAs, where one in five bookings in 2024 were through NDC, compared with about one in 17 TMC bookings.

Of course, OTAs have some advantages over TMCs in NDC adoption, including a simpler tech stack and a significant head start, having begun adoption about 15 years ago. TMC NDC adoption largely started within the last five years.

TMCs are making progress. Accelya reported that in 2024, TMC NDC bookings increased 500 percent compared with 2022. The Garner report, however, said not to expect "S-curve" growth in corporate bookings due to the complexity of TMC tech stack configurations and the time it takes for airlines' NDC integrations to mature. Accelya reported that in its NDC growth from 2022 to 2024, 70 percent came from airlines that were already processing NDC bookings prior to 2022, according to the Garner report.

Amadeus gave a similar indication in its fourth-quarter earnings report. Amadeus Travel president Decius Valmorbida said that of the 70 NDC agreement the company has with airlines, 31 so far have been implemented, and completion of those implementations will take a few years.

The percentage of NDC bookings in proportion to total bookings is "going to be in the teens for quite a while," he said.