IATA resolution 787 benefits

Passengers are now more IT/net savvy than ever before and do online shopping for flights and 

vacation packages before selecting the airline or even contacting a travel agent. All airlines have 

their web site that offer passengers flight shopping and vacation planning. However, there is no 

way one can combine offers from two different airlines and hence, the passenger ends up with 

multiple separate bookings with no airline taking ownership of the entire travel. This leads to a 

number of problems for the passenger, especially when there are changes to the travel either 

voluntarily or due to any other reason which is not in control of the passenger. The end result is that 

the passenger suffers, the airlines too may suffer, and in general it affects the whole travel industry, 

due to last minute cancellations or no-shows. The proposed NDC by IATA will allow the passengers 

to book their travel with a combination of multiple offers from different airlines, service providers and 

yet have a clear ownership with an airline for the entire journey. This is a clear benefit for the entire 

travel industry and more significantly it benefits the “Passengers” on whom the whole industry 

depends.

The travel agents who use the traditional GDS systems do not have the ability to offer such services 

i.e. to combine multiple offers from different airlines and they, too, end up creating separate 

bookings costing the passenger more. A simple example would be of an out bound journey by one 

Airline and a return by another airline. This will result in two separate bookings – costing almost 

twice the amount when compared to offers by the individual airlines. The traditional GDS way of 

handling bookings by “flight availability” and “Filled Fares” does not give any option to the travel 

agent. Obviously, this is a huge restriction and the IATA NDC resolution would provide a solution to 

overcome this problem.

The access to an Airline Inventory is currently available only through a GDS and airline web sites. It 

is impossible for a non GDS organization to now invest in old communication methods – due to the 

very nature of direct link (or Teletype) based communications set up almost half a century ago. This 

is not allowing other organizations to enter the field of airline distribution thereby reducing the 

competition and service options to the Passenger and of course, the other travel partners. NDC 

standards when defined and adopted by all, will allow other organizations to offer products and 

services that would bring in healthy competition, necessary innovation and reduction in the 

distribution costs for the airlines which in turn will benefit the passengers.

The message standards for accessing the Airline Reservation/Inventory systems are old and 

outdated. They do not support the handling of large chunks of data or images. The newer 

communication channels which use the Internet offer far better options, at higher bandwidths and at 

reduced costs. The airlines are unable to get the benefits of the advances in technology in Internet 

and Mobile communication as there is no Standard defined for the airlines to offer their products to 

everyone over the Internet. IATA resolution 787 is addressing precisely this short coming and offers 

a solution that when adopted by all airlines gives them a level playing field where they can compete 

with each other based on the overall product offering.

XML based communication is now an integral part of all IT system communications. XML has been 

adopted by other industries and will be the basis for all future communication between two IT 

systems. There are many products available in the market today that support XML 

standards. Airlines and other service providers will find it very easy to move to XML standards as all 

new modern systems support them. The old EDFIACT and Teletype standards are no longer 

sufficient to handle the growing needs of an airline. The IATA resolution 787 will create a standard 

that will be understood and followed by all travel service providers, bringing a clear structure in 

communication. Due to the well-defined and agreed standard, more technical companies will invest 
IATA resolution 787 benefits

in creating products for Internet based devices such as Mobiles, Tablets, smart-phone etc. and will 

offer a wider range of options for airlines to serve their customers. 

The IATA NDC Resolution 787 is dearly needed to alleviate the problems faced by the entire travel 

industry due to old technology/methods and to allow airlines to make full use of the modern 

technology to serve their passengers. Both the travel agents and the passengers will benefit from 

the new distribution capability. More technology players will make investments and offer better 

products. This is obviously a boon to the whole travel industry.