NDC has been one of the most talked-about topics in the travel industry for over a decade - and one of the most misunderstood. For travel agencies and TMCs, the question is not really what NDC is technically. It is what NDC means for your business, your bookings, and your technology.

This article explains NDC in plain terms - what it is, why it exists, how it differs from GDS, and what travel agencies in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and across Asia need to do about it.

1. What Does NDC Stand For?

NDC stands for New Distribution Capability. It is a data communication standard developed by IATA (the International Air Transport Association) that defines how airlines share their flight content - fares, ancillaries, seat maps, images, and personalised offers - with travel agents, booking tools, and other third parties.
NDC is not a product, platform, or booking system. It is a technical standard - specifically an XML-based messaging protocol - that replaces the older EDIFACT standard that has underpinned airline distribution since the 1980s

2. Why Did NDC Come About?

To understand NDC, you need to understand the problem it was designed to solve.
The traditional Global Distribution System (GDS) was built in the 1960s and relies on a data standard (EDIFACT) that was designed for text-only communication. It is highly efficient for basic flight search and booking, but it has significant limitations:
• It cannot carry rich content like images, seat maps with visuals, or bundled ancillary offers
• It cannot support dynamic or personalised pricing - only pre-filed static fares
• It limits airlines' ability to differentiate their products through indirect channels
• It gives airlines less visibility into who is buying and why

As airlines invested heavily in building rich, personalised booking experiences on their own websites, they became frustrated that the same experience could not be replicated through indirect channels like travel agencies and GDS platforms. NDC was IATA's response: a modern standard that would allow airlines to distribute the same rich content and personalised offers through indirect channels that they could offer through their own websites.

3. How Does NDC Work?

Under the traditional GDS model, an airline files its fares and schedules into the GDS, which then makes them available to travel agents. The airline has limited control over how its products are presented or priced once they enter the GDS.
Under NDC, the flow is different:
• A travel agent's booking system sends a shopping request directly to the airline's NDC API
• The airline responds in real time with a personalised offer - which may include dynamic pricing, bundled ancillaries, seat selection, and rich content
• The agent selects and books the offer, which is confirmed directly with the airline
• Post-booking management (changes, cancellations, ancillary additions) can also happen through the NDC connection

In practice, most travel agencies do not connect directly to each airline's NDC API - that would require separate integrations with every carrier. Instead, they access NDC content through aggregators: GDS platforms like Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport that have built NDC connections on their agents' behalf, or specialist NDC aggregators like Travelfusion.

4. NDC vs GDS: What Is the Difference?

NDC and GDS are often discussed as if they are competing systems, but that is not quite accurate. Here is how they actually differ:

The practical reality for most travel agencies today is that NDC and GDS are complementary, not competing. GDS remains the most efficient way to search across hundreds of airlines simultaneously. NDC adds access to content and pricing that airlines only make available outside the traditional GDS filing process.

5.Why Are Airlines Moving to NDC?

Airlines have several strong motivations to push NDC adoption:

Better product differentiation

Through GDS, airlines struggle to differentiate their products from competitors because everything is reduced to fare codes and basic text. NDC allows an airline to present its full product - cabin photos, seat specifications, bundled upgrades, loyalty benefits - in a way that makes comparison meaningful rather than purely price-driven.

More ancillary revenue

Ancillary revenue - seat upgrades, extra baggage, lounge access, meals - is a major and growing part of airline economics. GDS has historically been poor at distributing ancillary offers. NDC allows airlines to surface these offers at the point of booking through indirect channels, capturing revenue that previously only came through direct bookings.

Dynamic pricing

GDS requires airlines to pre-file fares, which limits flexibility. NDC enables airlines to generate offers in real time based on the traveller's profile, travel history, booking context, and market conditions. This gives airlines the same pricing flexibility through indirect channels that they have always had on their own websites.

Lower distribution costs

GDS distribution carries significant costs for airlines in the form of segment fees. By encouraging bookings through NDC channels - or offering NDC-only fares as an incentive - airlines aim to reduce their overall cost of distribution.

6.What Does NDC Mean for Travel Agencies and TMCs?

This is the question that matters most for agencies. NDC creates both opportunities and challenges:

The opportunity

• Access to NDC-only fares that are not available through traditional GDS - in some cases, NDC fares are lower than GDS fares for the same flight
• Ability to sell the same rich ancillary content (seat upgrades, baggage bundles, lounge access) that travellers see on airline websites directly
• More differentiated service - agencies that can show clients a fuller picture of what each flight includes, not just the base fare
• Better compliance for corporate programmes - when all fare options are visible in one place, employees are less likely to book out of policy

The challenge

• Technology investment - to access NDC content, your booking platform needs NDC integration. Not all systems have this, and implementation quality varies significantly
• Inconsistency across airlines - each airline implements NDC differently, at different maturity levels. The experience of booking Air New Zealand via NDC may be very different from booking Singapore Airlines via NDC
• Post-booking complexity - changes, cancellations, and ancillary modifications via NDC can be more complex than the equivalent GDS processes, depending on the airline and aggregator
• Content fragmentation - managing a mix of GDS content and NDC content in a single booking workflow requires a platform that handles both seamlessly

7. Which Airlines Have NDC Fares?

NDC adoption varies significantly by airline. As of 2026, the airlines with the most mature NDC programmes - meaning the broadest content, most stable technology, and strongest NDC-only fare strategies - include:
• Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines) - one of the most aggressive NDC adopters, offering NDC-exclusive fares and surcharging GDS bookings
• British Airways and Iberia (IAG Group) - strong NDC content via both direct connections and aggregators
• Air France-KLM - progressive NDC rollout with growing ancillary content
• American Airlines - significant NDC content including NDC-exclusive fares on some routes
• Singapore Airlines - active NDC programme, relevant for Asia-based agencies
• Cathay Pacific - advancing NDC content distribution across its network
• ANA and Japan Airlines - growing NDC availability for the Northeast Asia market

For agencies in Asia, the most immediately relevant developments are the growing NDC programmes of Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and the major Japanese carriers. LCC content in Asia continues to be distributed primarily through direct connect and aggregator models like Travelfusion rather than traditional NDC.

8. NDC in Asia: What Travel Agencies Need to Know

The Asia-Pacific airline market has some specific characteristics that shape how NDC plays out for regional agencies:

Full-service carriers are leading adoption

Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, ANA, and JAL are all advancing their NDC programmes. Singapore Airlines' NDC programme, known as KrisConnect, achieved IATA Airline Retailing Maturity Index certification in 2021 and now offers NDC-exclusive fares that are up to 6% lower than traditional GDS fares - and 7% lower for corporate bookings. As of September 2025, some discounted economy fare classes are only available via NDC, not through legacy GDS channels. For agencies in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong that regularly book Singapore Airlines for corporate clients, NDC access is no longer optional - it directly affects pricing competitiveness.

LCCs remain largely outside NDC

AirAsia, Scoot, and other regional LCCs distribute primarily through direct connect channels and aggregators like Travelfusion rather than through NDC or traditional GDS. Agencies that need comprehensive coverage across both full-service and LCC content require a booking platform that handles all three: GDS, NDC, and direct connect aggregators. See our guide on what is GDS in travel for more context on how these distribution channels fit together.

Corporate travel programmes need hybrid strategies

For TMCs managing corporate travel programmes in Asia, the practical approach is a hybrid model: GDS for broad multi-airline search, NDC for full-service carrier content and ancillaries, and Travelfusion for LCC coverage. A Corporate Booking Tool that surfaces all three content types in a single interface is what allows compliance and completeness to coexist.

9. How Forecepts Supports NDC Content

Forecepts builds travel technology for TMCs and travel agencies in Asia-Pacific. As a Sabre Gold Partner and authorised developer, Forecepts develops solutions that connect to both GDS and NDC content - giving agencies a unified view of available content regardless of distribution channel.

SWIFT Internet Booking Engine (IBE) supports GDS content from Sabre, Amadeus, and Travelport alongside NDC content - allowing agencies to access the best available fare and content across both distribution channels from a single platform. For corporate clients, this means travellers always see the full picture: GDS fares, NDC-exclusive offers, and ancillary bundles in one search.

For TMCs managing complex multi-airline itineraries across Asia, SWIFT Mid-Back Office handles the operational complexity of mixed GDS and NDC bookings - ensuring consistent PNR management, invoicing, and reconciliation regardless of which distribution channel the booking originated from.

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