• By upgrading to the NDC Standard 18.2 Oman Air’s IT Provider (TPConnects) has incorporated and adhered to the Airline Industry Data Model (AIDM) guidelines.

Muscat, Sultanate of Oman: Oman Air, the National Carrier of the Sultanate of Oman has received the level 4 New Distribution Capability (NDC) certification from International Air Transport Association (IATA). This comes in addition to Oman Airs’ existing level 3 NDC certification, making Oman Air one of the first airlines on the latest standard, NDC 18.2

New Distribution Capability (NDC) is a key transformation project, launched by IATA to modernize Airline distribution. The NDC Standard enhances the capability of communications between airlines and travel agents by enabling an airline to make sales offers directly in real time which will also permit airlines to both define and price their products in any way they wish.

Paul Starrs, Chief Commercial Officer of Oman Air said: “We are pleased to be one of the first airlines to receive Level 4 NDC Certification.  With buy-in from major travel agencies, Aggregators and Online Travel Agencies (OTA's) the NDC initiative at Oman Air is on a path from experimentation and testing to full-scale production.  Our strategy is to shift the focus from capability to volumes and drive critical mass, and by expanding the NDC capability to more markets globally, we target to have significant transaction volumes via NDC connections during this year.

Oman Air controlled Offer and Order Management solution and the Travel Agency Portal from TPConnects, based on Level 4 NDC Schema 18.2, will enable Oman Air to introduce exclusive content on NDC channel to Travel Agents”, said Paul Starrs

NDC is the modernization of a 40-year old data exchange standard for ticket distribution developed before the Internet was invented. NDC is aimed at replacing the old EDIFACT protocol that has been around since the 1980s and used by Global Distribution Systems (GDSs).

Umesh Chhiber, Vice President – Revenue Optimization and Pricing, said, “The primary drivers for NDC at Oman Air is the revenue opportunity through the simple to use Travel Agent Portal and API's for Online Travel Agents, Aggregators etc, that allows product differentiation, ancillary  sales, dynamic pricing and exclusive content. Adopting NDC is unlocking value through our travel agent channel by providing them with features and exclusive content that is difficult to access today.

The travel agency community is evolving to adapt to new consumer’s needs, and thanks to opportunities brought by modern technologies. Oman Air have heavily invested in NDC enabled Offer and Order Management and Distribution through TPConnects and is geared up to meet the needs of our travel agency community to satisfy the changing expectations of how our consumers shop, book and pay, added Umesh.

Travel Partners including IATA and Non-IATA Travel Agents and corporates who wish to access Oman Air NDC content can register on https://ndc.omanair.com

-Ends-

About Oman Air

Oman Air is the national airline of Sultanate of Oman. Based in Muscat International Airport in Seeb, Muscat, it operates scheduled domestic and international passenger services. Oman Air is a member of the Arab Air Carriers Organization. Oman Air operates a network of 50 destinations in 27 countries out of its primary hub at Muscat. Oman Air fleet consists of 10 Airbus, 39 Boeing and 4 Embraer aircraft.

Oman Air, has been awarded World’s Leading Airline Economy Class at the 2018 World Travel Awards and its frequent flyer programme, Sindbad has been named “World’s Leading Airline Rewards Programme 2018. Oman Air was also named the ‘Middle East’s Leading Airline, Business Class’ and ‘Middle East’s Leading Airline, Economy Class’ at the World Travel Awards held in the lead up to Arabian Travel Market.

Other notable award wins for 2018 include Best Airline in Europe, Middle East and Africa at the Seven Stars Luxury Lifestyle and Hospitality Awards 2018, Inflight Retailer of the Year at the Frontier Awards, Airline of the year Middle East 2018 at the 2018 Aviation Business Awards as well as receiving Four Star Airlines Rating at the APEX Regional Passenger Choice Awards.

Apart from winning a multitude of awards and accolades, Oman Air also added 7 brand new aircraft to its growing fleet and opened three new destinations namely, Istanbul in Turkey, Casablanca in Morocco and Moscow in Russia, as well as resuming operations to Maldives. By the end of this year Oman Air would have added five new MAX aircraft and three 787-9s to its fleet.

For further information on Oman Air, visit www.omanair.com 

About TPConnects

TPConnects is the only IATA NDC DUAL Level 3 Certified (IT Provider for Airlines and Travel Aggregator for Travel Agents) Travel Technology Company from MENA region.  Based in Dubai, TPConnects, an IATA Strategic Partner is specialized in Next Generation Travel Retailing, NDC Offer & Order Management and Distribution.  

TPConnects' Offer and Order Management platform runs in parallel to airline host system (PSS). TPConnects highly scalable SaaS platform spanning the advanced Offer and Order Management is deployed by many of the airlines in MENA region including Saudi Arabian Airlines and Egypt Air.

For further information on TPConnects, visit www.tpconnecs.com 

© Press Release 2019

Disclaimer: The contents of this press release was provided from an external third party provider. This website is not responsible for, and does not control, such external content. This content is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither this website nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this press release.

The press release is provided for informational purposes only. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Neither this website nor our affiliates shall be liable for any errors or inaccuracies in the content, or for any actions taken by you in reliance thereon. You expressly agree that your use of the information within this article is at your sole risk.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, this website, its parent company, its subsidiaries, its affiliates and the respective shareholders, directors, officers, employees, agents, advertisers, content providers and licensors will not be liable (jointly or severally) to you for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, incidental, punitive or exemplary damages, including without limitation, lost profits, lost savings and lost revenues, whether in negligence, tort, contract or any other theory of liability, even if the parties have been advised of the possibility or could have foreseen any such damages.