CWT, the business-to-business-for-employees (B2B4E) travel management platform, has taken another leap towards making wide-scale NDC adoption a reality with a new pilot program that will see its travel counselors making live NDC bookings, for customers, via its global distribution technology partners.
CWT will commence booking and servicing NDC-enabled content on Singapore Airlines and Air France-KLM, through the Amadeus Travel Platform, in August. In addition to corporate negotiated rates, the pilot covers certain unique NDC-enabled content on these airlines. For Singapore Airlines, this will initially include special discounted fares, while additional amenities like paid seats and extra baggage will be added to the program at a later date. Meanwhile, with Air France-KLM, CWT's customers will be able to access the airline's continuous pricing offers, and seat bundles and sustainable aviation fuel options will be introduced in the near future.
Through 2022, CWT will expand the pilot to include other airlines on both the Amadeus and Sabre platforms.
“This represents another big step in taking the promise of NDC from theory to practice,” said Erik Magnuson, CWT’s Vice President of Product Management, Travel Content & Connectivity. “Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, we have worked closely with our airline and technology partners to innovate and advance key NDC initiatives over the past two and a half years, and we continue to do so. There is still some way to go before NDC can be adopted at scale and its full potential is realized, but we are excited to be at the forefront of this transformation. Our customers are already beginning to reap some of the benefits, while still keeping their core travel program priorities intact.”
CWT has been an industry frontrunner in NDC adoption, facilitating NDC transactions for its customers since 2019. It has delivered thousands of transactions to early-adopter clients through its multi-sourced air distribution platform. At the same time, CWT has been working closely with its airline and technology partners to develop scalable solutions for NDC-sourced content through the major global content aggregators, and this latest pilot program represents another important milestone for the industry.
CWT is a Business-to-Business-for-Employees (B2B4E) travel management platform. Companies and governments rely on us to keep their people connected – anywhere, anytime, anyhow. Across six continents, we provide their employees with innovative technology and an efficient, safe and secure travel experience backed by our three core promises: to simplify corporate travel, to connect to unlock possibilities, and to move forward, together.
