Airline distribution is undergoing a transformation that goes far beyond the mere introduction of a new fare channel. GDS and NDC are no longer necessarily two alternative models: They are becoming complementary components of an ecosystem in which traditional content, dynamic offers, ancillary services, low-cost carriers, and various payment systems must coexist within the same operational process.
For travel agencies, the key issue will not be choosing between GDS and NDC. It will be being able to manage content from different sources without increasing the number of platforms, procedures, and operating costs.
The GDS isn't going away—it's changing its role
For decades, Global Distribution Systems have been the primary infrastructure used by travel agencies, consolidators, and Travel Management Companies to check availability, compare fares, create PNRs, and issue tickets.
Their value lay in their ability to standardize and consolidate the offerings of hundreds of airlines within a single operating environment.
The introduction of NDC has highlighted some limitations of the traditional model: the rigidity of rate classes, the difficulty of presenting visual content, limited management of ancillary services, and the difference between the offers available on airline websites and those distributed through the agency channel.
The major GDSs are responding by gradually transforming themselves into multi-source retail platforms. Amadeus, Sabre, and Travelport integrate EDIFACT, NDC, and Low Cost content with the goal of providing travel agencies with a single platform for searching, comparing, booking, and post-sale support.
The GDS of the future will therefore be less like a centralized repository of rates and more like a coordinator of content, offers, and services.
NDC is evolving from a distribution channel to a commercial infrastructure
NDC, or New Distribution Capability, is a standard developed by IATA to enable airlines to create and distribute more comprehensive, flexible, and relevant offers for travelers.
Through NDC, an airline can offer dedicated fares, baggage allowances, seat selection, lounge access, priority boarding, and other services in a more comprehensive way than traditional systems.
The key step involves the ability to produce dynamic offers. The price can be determined based on demand, availability, the distribution channel, and the chosen product mix.
This development includes the continuous pricing, which overcomes the rigidity of a limited number of rate tiers, and the dynamic bundling, through which flights and services can be combined with greater flexibility.
For the customer, this means a wider selection. For the agency, it means having to evaluate offers that can no longer be compared based solely on the ticket price.
Travelport and Multi-Source Aggregation
Travelport is one of the most significant examples of the transformation of the GDS into a modern travel retailing platform.
Through Travelport+, the company aims to bring together traditional flight content, NDC offerings, low-cost carriers, and ancillary services in a single platform. The goal is to allow agents to view and compare different sources without having to constantly switch between systems.
The main problem with multi-source distribution, in fact, is not just about access to content. It lies in its normalization.
NDC offers can be structured and presented in different ways by each company. If the system merely aggregates them without making them comparable, the agency receives more content but also faces greater complexity.
To address this issue, Travelport has developed the Content Curation Layer, a component based on artificial intelligence and machine learning that aggregates, normalizes, and sorts results from various sources.
The goal is to make it easier to understand the true value of each offer by clearly presenting rates, terms, included services, and additional fees.
Travelport describes this evolution as the shift from simple aggregation to content curation: The system doesn't just return a long list of results; it tries to select and organize the most relevant ones.
Comparability Becomes a Strategic Function
With the rise of dynamic pricing and additional services, two seemingly similar offers can have very different features.
A lower fare may not include baggage, seat selection, or the option to make changes. A more expensive offer, on the other hand, may actually be more cost-effective overall.
Travelport+, like its evolving competitors, aims to highlight these differences within a single search flow.
The ability to show NDC and traditional content side by side It therefore takes on central importance. For an agency, value does not come from the absolute number of rates available, but from the ability to quickly determine which solution best meets the client’s needs.
Future distribution will require a true commercial comparability, in addition to basic technical connectivity.
The real test will be the servicing
Having a competitive fare is only the first step in the process. An agency must be able to modify a reservation, add services, and handle cancellations, refunds, schedule changes, and rebookings.
Early NDC implementations often offered varying levels of post-sale support. Some content could be booked but not modified as easily as traditional tickets.
Travelport is gradually expanding the features of NDC servicing regarding the airlines integrated into the platform. For some carriers, agencies can already search for, compare, book, and manage NDC offers within the same environment.
However, the availability of individual features continues to depend on the company, the market, and the level of integration achieved.
The future value of a platform will not be measured solely by the number of NDC carriers connected to it. What will matter is the comprehensive customer service, reliable post-sale operations, and seamless continuity between booking, payment, and issuance.
Skytool: A Single Interface for GDS, NDC, and Multi-Source Content
In this scenario, Skytool serves to integrate and streamline operations, providing the agency—through a single interface—with content from its GDS, NDC connections, and low-cost aggregators. The goal is to prevent the agent from having to constantly switch between different environments, repeat the same searches, or manage separate procedures for each source. Through a single workspace, the agency can check availability, compare offers, verify included services, create reservations, and manage operational workflows while maintaining control of its PCC,regarding its rates and the commercial rules it applies. Skytool does not replace the GDS or existing agreements, but it makes them more accessible and manageable, transforming a variety of systems into a more streamlined operational experience. For IATA agencies, sub-agency networks, and corporate clients, this means having Everything at your fingertips, with greater speed, less technical complexity, and a unified view of the entire booking and ticketing process.
From the PNR to the order
The transformation envisioned by IATA goes beyond NDC. The program Modern Airline Retail points toward a system based on Offers and Orders.
In the current model, a reservation can be distributed across a PNR, an electronic ticket, an EMD for ancillary services, and various administrative records.
With ONE Order, these elements should gradually be consolidated into a single digital order. The principle mirrors how e-commerce works: the customer purchases a combination of products and services, while the system maintains a single record of the order, payments, changes, and services purchased.
The market will go through a long hybrid phase. Traditional systems will continue to coexist with new architectures, as complex processes such as interline agreements, accounting, airport management, operational irregularities, and settlement will need to be integrated.
Artificial Intelligence and Supply Management
Artificial intelligence will play an increasingly important role in analyzing offers. It will be able to filter through billions of combinations, identify relevant results, recognize preferences, and assist the operator in making a choice.
Travelport's Content Curation Layer is leading the way in this direction, using AI and machine learning to organize content from NDC, traditional distribution channels, and other sources.
This development also raises a question of transparency. The agency must be able to understand why a bid is given preference, what terms it includes, and what criteria were used to rank it.
AI will truly be useful when it reduces complexity while maintaining oversight, transparency, and decision-making autonomy.
The New Role of Agencies
The growing number of options makes professional advice even more important.
The agent will need to evolve from a rate broker to a guide to business complexity, which can compare the total cost of the trip, evaluate the terms and conditions, and combine products from different sources.
Advanced GDSs, platforms such as Travelport+, and NDC aggregation systems can make this work more efficient, but they do not eliminate the role of the travel agency. On the contrary, they enhance the value of those who know how to use technology to select, explain, and manage travel offers.
The future will be multi-source
They will continue to coexist in the next market EDIFACT, NDC, low-cost carriers, private rates, and direct agreements.
An agency’s competitiveness will depend on its ability to access these sources through a consistent operational workflow. The most effective platforms will be those capable of aggregating, standardizing, comparing, and managing content even after a booking has been made.
Travelport, Amadeus, and Sabre are moving into this new competitive landscape, in which the value of a GDS will depend less and less on fare availability alone and increasingly on the ability to orchestrate the entire supply cycle.
Preparing for the Market Ahead
Agencies can start by evaluating the NDC coverage of the leading companies in their market, the available servicing features, the comparability of content, integration with back-office and payment systems, and agent training.
Technology alone does not create a competitive advantage. The outcome depends on how it is integrated into business and organizational processes and on the agency’s ability to transform technological complexity into a simple, consistent, and manageable work experience.
From this perspective, Skytool can serve as the operational gateway to the new air distribution network, bringing together content from GDS, NDC connections, and low-cost aggregators into a single interface. This allows the agency to search for, compare, and manage offers from different sources without having to juggle multiple work environments, procedures, and tools.
Skytool does not replace the GDS or alter existing commercial agreements. It integrates with the agency's infrastructure, making content, services, and processes more accessible while keeping the PCC, fares, issuances, markups, payments, and network authorizations under the control of the IATA structure.
The future of airline ticketing will not be determined by NDC’s victory over GDSs. It will emerge from their convergence into a new retail infrastructure, in which offers, services, and payments can be searched for and managed as part of a single digital booking.
In this phase, platforms such as Skytool will be responsible for translate technological convergence into operational simplicity, making everything readily available through a unified platform and also allowing sub-agencies and corporate clients to access the services in accordance with the rules, permissions, and conditions established by the Master Agency.
The market will reward agencies that are able to combine breadth of content, ease of use, quality of service, and distribution control. Travelport and the other GDSs will continue to play a central role, evolving from reservation systems into intelligent platforms for the travel industry, while Skytool will enable agencies to leverage this evolution within a simpler, more integrated, and more manageable process.
By Guido Deiana and Daniele Di Stefano
