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.