There are various benefits of NDC. Firstly, for the airline, NDC standard enhances the capability of distributing in a modern way of Qatar Airways’ products to the Travel Agents, TMC’s, OTAs, Consolidators and other 3rd Party Sellers. For the Sellers, NDC means better booking experience and upsell opportunities. It also provides the opportunity to improve the end-to-end airline distribution process, e.g. introducing flight details and ancillary products in a more fast, dynamic and richer way. It enables airlines to deliver enhanced customer experiences through personalized offers, rich content and dynamic pricing.

Qatar Airways has launched a NDC programme called Oryx Connect.  There are 3 different options within the programme for the seller to connect to NDC.

•       I.        Oryx Direct - A trade partner can connect to Qatar Airways via a direct connect API (Application Programming Interface) which will give them access to Qatar Airways offers (Flight availability, fares, ancillary products). This will require the agency partner to have dedicated IT resources for the technical integration. 

•     II.        Oryx Link - This is an option to connect through various Qatar Airways approved aggregators which combine the NDC content from different airlines in their platform.  These content aggregators will offer you the opportunity to access Qatar Airways content without having to undertake extensive technical development or integration. Agents can now access NDC content via a range of aggregators including Aarongroup, Duffel, Travelfusion, Travvise and Verteil.  The Amadeus Travel Platform will be added in early 2022.  Discussions are underway with a range of other Global Distribution Systems and aggregators.

•    III.        Oryx Portal - This is recommended for trade partners who want to gain fast, free and easy access to NDC content and offers in 17 languages via our user-friendly booking portal. The portal is web based and since it requires just an internet connection to deploy, technical integration will not be required. A trade partner can use this portal without any implementation or setup fees.

In NDC, Airlines create offers and orders for their seller.  Offers are generated based on the search enquiries (Shopping request flow). Offer means flight and seat availability with airfare that could be bundled with other products such as ancillaries services.

Offer becomes an order once the customer or seller accepts the offer resulting in the creation of a unique order reference number similar to a PNR in traditional GDS environment.

Yes, Qatar Airways has obtained Level 4 NDC Certification from IATA. Level 4 means that we have full Offer & Order Management capabilities.   In addition to all the booking and selling capabilities, key elements of servicing like changes in NDC booking is also supported.

Currently Qatar Airways is using NDC schema version 17.2 which in practice means we have all the basic capabilities available but more enhancements such as Alternative Forms of Payments will be included in the later versions as the standard still develops.

Yes, we will upgrade to later versions as we progress in this NDC journey

Depending on how the seller connects, there are different capabilities available.  The following capabilities are available on all connection types.

Features that are currently supported by Oryx Connect, Qatar Airways NDC programme, are;

•      I.   Full availability of Qatar Airways published flight schedules and flight information including codeshare flights

•     II.   Ability to sell all published Qatar Airways fares including easily identifiable Fare Families and associated product benefits such as free seating and lounge access.

•   III.   Depending on the connection type, trade partners can access rich content including images, videos and flight information with aircraft type, available cabins and interactive seat maps.

•   IV.   Ability to sell a variety of Qatar Airways private fares for authorized sellers.

•    V.   Ability to sell ancillary products such as preferred seats and baggage

•   VI.   Ability to add Special Service Requests (SSR) like wheelchair, special meals etc. similar to all special service request capabilities that are currently available in the GDS.

• VII.   Oryx Connect Programme facilitates multiple payment methods in both BSP and non-BSP markets.

• VIII.   Ability to service NDC bookings via Oryx Portal similar to all servicing capabilities that are currently available in the GDS (Rebooking, cancellations and refunds etc.).  More enhanced servicing capabilities such as auto-refund and auto-exchange will be available in all connection methods.

• I.    Ability to service NDC bookings in an automated manner (Auto Exchange & Auto refunds).
• II.    Ability to sell ancillary products such as preferred seats and baggage (Prepaid baggage, sporting equipment, Falcon and animal in hold).
• III.    For non-BSP markets, credit card payments will be enabled as a means of payment for Qatar Airways.
• IV.    Further enhancements are planned for H2 2021.  More information will follow.

Farelogix Inc. (An Accelya Group Company) is our current NDC technology provider. They are a market leading, technology solutions provider to the airline industry.  They are working with various global airlines and have extensive experience with NDC solutions. We have also announced that we plan to implement Altea NDC as an alternative to our current Farelogix NDC solution. We intend to retain both solutions for the foreseeable future, including the SPRK booking tool.

Qatar Airways doesn’t offer a specific incentive programme for NDC bookings currently. However, all the current sales and incentive programmes (PLBs) do apply for bookings made through the approved NDC solutions

GDSs are building their own NDC capabilities and could connect to the Qatar Airways NDC programme via Oryx Link and serve as NDC aggregators in the future. We have announced that we plan to implement NDC in the Amadeus GDS from early 2022. Discussions are underway with a range of other Global Distribution Systems and aggregators.

This varies depending on the payment & settlement method that the trade partner uses.

•  I.    Settlement via BSP / ARC channel: It is not required for an IATA appointed trade partner to sign a separate agreement as IATA resolution 824 applies and trade partner is obliged to follow Qatar Airways policies.

• II.    Settlement via Non-BSP channel: It is required for the trade partner to sign a NDC Seller Agreement with Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways recommends BSP participating trade partners to settle via BSP channel.

Qatar Airways recommends non-BSP participating trade partners to obtain Go-Lite accreditation in BSP markets and settle using IATA-Easy Pay solution or by payment card

Qatar Airways can support trading outside of BSP via bank guarantee or cash deposit arrangements only on Non-BSP/ Non-ARC markets.

• I.    Via BSP/ARC channel: All FOPs supported by respective country’s BSP.   NDC is not activated in certain BSP markets due to the limitations of the technology partner. For e.g., China
•  
• II.    Via Non-BSP/Non-ARC channel: Only cash FOP is supported currently and Credit Card FOP will be enabled soon.  NDC is not activated in certain non-BSP markets such as Cuba, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Crimea and North Korea

• I.     Via BSP / ARC channel: NDC is not activated in certain BSP markets due to the limitations of the technology partner. For e.g. China. Currently NDC could be implemented in 129 BSPs covering 154 markets.

• II.     Via Non-BSP /Non-ARC channel: NDC is not activated in certain non-BSP market such as Cuba, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Crimea and North Korea.

• I.     Via BSP/ARC channel: Will be controlled by BSP /ARC.

• II.    Via Non-BSP / Non-ARC channel: Will be controlled by Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways is working closely with a broad range of NDC aggregators including GDSs and the list of approved aggregators is available in the Trade Portal at the Oryx Connect section

Trade Partners once approved by Qatar Airways will need to agree on the onboarding process and possible commercials with the aggregator partner.

There will be less room for errors in NDC but any violations will be subject to ADM as defined in Qatar Airways policies.

Similarly to the traditional GDS environment, the trade partner and end consumer is notified of the flight disruptions.

Refunds shall be processed as per normal practice to the respective FOP used at the time of sales and as per the applicable Fare rules and Qatar Airways Policies/Procedures.

Depending on the connectivity method, the trade partner shall contact either Qatar Airways NDC team, or NDC technology provider or the aggregator (Oryx Link) that they are connecting through.

Trade partners should contact Qatar Airways account manager to understand the different connectivity options available and agree on the selected solution. The trade partner will then be guided through the onboarding process (Financial, Contractual and Technical) with support from Qatar Airways NDC Team.

Currently group bookings are not available via NDC.

Currently all codeshare itineraries can be booked via all NDC connectivity models. Interline itineraries are currently limited to AA and WS. More interline partners will be added during 2022

Preferred Seats is already active and more ancillaries will be made available through NDC during Q3 2021 e.g. baggage (Prepaid baggage, Sporting equipment, Falcon and animal in hold).  More ancillaries will be added during 2021.