Air Cairo adopts IATA’s New Distribution Capability TPConnects’

Air Cairo has become the latest MENA-based airline to adopt TPConnects’ IATA New Distribution Capability (NDC) and One Order certified Offer and Order Management Solution (OfrMS) along with NDC Agency Portal and NDC-based Internet Booking Engine for holiday bookings and Mobile Applications.

Air Cairo is the first Egyptian Airline to receive NDC Level 4 Certification from IATA – the initiative that provides airlines the flexibility and the capability to innovate and differentiate their services. The airline is on track to transition to become a true retailer.

TPConnects is also providing Air Cairo with an Airlines Agent platform (NDC Agency Portal), directly integrated to Air Cairo’s Passenger Service System and IATA Financial Gateway (IFG) that will enable travel trade (both IATA Accredited and Non-IATA Travel Agents) to book air tickets, ancillaries and related services with the NDC-certified airline.

The Mobile App and Holidays Website being built by TPConnects for Air Cairo will be integrated with flights as well as air and non-air ancillaries.  Travel Trade partners will also be able to sell non-air products like hotel accommodation through the NDC Agency Portal in the near future, thus transitioning to a customer-centric retailer.

By Air Cairo participating in NDCMarketplace.com, a subscription-based marketplace connecting airlines and travel agents, launched by TPConnects, Travel Agents will be able to search, compare, book ticket, ancillaries and perform after sales (refund, reissue etc) on Air Cairo routes along with other airlines from various sources.  In addition to this, Agents will also be able to create sub agents, additional users and user role permissions, create markup and service charges and generate reports.

TPConnects is the only IATA DUAL Level 4 Certified IT Provider and Travel Aggregator and the first IT Provider to receive the IATA Financial Gateway (IFG) Solution Provider certification in the MENA Region. The firm specializes in next-generation travel retailing with air and non-air ancillaries, NDC Offer & Order Management with customer-centric business rules and NDC-enabled distribution.

Online Travel Agents (OTAs) and meta-search engines will be provided with NDC Application Programming Interface (APIs) to access Air Cairo’s complete OfrMS including after sales-service.

“As one of the region’s fastest-growing low-fare airlines, it was vital for our business’ long-term growth plans to introduce the latest, cutting-edge technologies based on IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) and One Order standard,” commented Air Cairo Chief Executive Officer Hussein Sherif.

“TPConnects’ advanced Customer Centric OfrMS and NDC Agency Portal will enable our customers to package, price and bundle air tickets along with air and non-air ancillaries as well as third-party products, tapping into the greater flexibility provided by IATA’s NDC standard.

As the world is moving slowly towards a post-Covid-19 era, when travel is going to rebound, we want to provide more choices for our IATA and Non-IATA Travel Agents to meet their customer demand through our participation in NDCMarketplace.com by TPConnects.  We are excited that NDCMarketplace.com will accelerate the quick adoption of NDC transactions for Air Cairo,” Sherif added.

According to IATA, the NDC standard is designed to enable the travel industry to transform the way air products are retailed to leisure travelers and corporate clients, by addressing the industry’s current distribution limitations by enhancing communications between airlines and travel agents.

Commenting on the rollout of the OfrMS platform and the NDC Level 4 Certification for Air Cairo, RajendranVellapalath, Chief Executive Officer of TPConnects, said: “As the region’s leading provider of IATA NDC Level 4 and One Order certified IT solutions, we are proud to be working with Air Cairo as it bids to expand its travel retail offerings, while supporting the airline’s long-term growth plans.

“Air Cairo will benefit from the inherent flexibility of our suite of NDC solutions including the participation of NDCMarketplace.com, helping them to improve their engagement with the travel trade and provide them with a range of exciting new solutions” said Rajendran.