SA strengthens NDC capabilities and limits traditional GDS bookings
Singapore Airlines has implemented a higher GDS distribution fee and has increased its price differential between NDC-enabled fares and tickets purchased via legacy GDS technology.
The carrier will also pull some discount fares from legacy GDS channels on Aug. 1.
Singapore's latest changes went into effect on June 1. As laid out in an April 27 circular to agency partners, the GDS distribution charge increased on that date from $15 to $20.
In addition, Singapore doubled its fare discount for NDC bookings from 3pc lower than legacy GDS bookings to 6pc below that level. For corporate fares, the differential jumped to 7pc.
The sales circular was posted on LinkedIn by Cory Garner, a former NDC strategist at American who now runs Garner, a consulting firm.
"Graded on a curve, SQ is arguably one of the most aggressive airlines when it comes distribution strategy," Garner wrote, referencing Singapore Air's IATA designator code.
In addition, Singapore expanded its deployment of continuous pricing on June 1, a move that increases the number of price points and fares that are available via by NDC-enabled channels and further differentiates those channels from legacy GDSs.
"With continuous pricing, customers may see more frequent albeit smaller fare changes depending on supply, demand and real-time market conditions, allowing us to deliver more competitive fare offers," the carrier said in a statement.
Singapore's next major push in its KrisConnect NDC program will come on Aug. 1, when it removes fares in the K and V fare categories from the legacy GDSs. These discounted economy fare categories comprise tickets marketed by the airline as Lite, according to Garner, which is its version of basic economy.
Singapore offers NDC content via the three major GDSs as well as through direct connects and NDC aggregators. The carrier also maintains the Agent360 website, which it says is available to all travel agents and requires no integration or IT investment.
In its circular, Singapore said that it would extend its "full support" to guide travel advisors through its transition toward NDC, including offering trained helpdesk staff.
"To service your customers' bookings seamlessly, SIA has also developed a comprehensive set of servicing functionalities and will continue to work with our intermediary partners to make available these functionalities on their platforms," the carrier said.
In a statement, the carrier also highlighted content offerings made available via its NDC program, including access to new family products and ancillary products, as well as access to personalized offers that customized either uniquely to a customer or corporation.
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