Verteil Technologies is thrilled to announce the first-ever direct connect booking using IATA’s NDC standard on British Airways in India using our direct connect platform, Verteil Direct Connect (VDC). On 08 Dec 2017, our partner agency, Magellan Travels, an IATA accredited travel agent based out of Chennai issued a Chennai – London ticket on British Airways directly connecting to the airline using the Verteil Direct Connect (VDC) technology platform and thereby becoming the first travel agency in India to take advantage of the offers coming directly from British Airways. It is claimed to be the first live IATA NDC transaction from India.
Online and Offline Travel service providers can now revolutionize the way they do business using Verteil Technologies’ next generation cloud-based airline distribution platform, VDC. Built on IATA’s NDC (New Distribution Capability) standard, VDC platform offers the travel agents a new direct channel to access the airline’s vast range of services that will enable them to offer a lot more options to discerning travelers. Current airline distribution platforms are limited to offering seat/fare options to travelers and travel agents due to the legacy technologies that power these distribution platforms.
At Verteil, we are completely aligned with IATA’s vision for NDC. Our goal is to unlock the full value of NDC and make it available to the indirect airline sales channels in India and other Asia Pacific regions thereby enabling our partner agents to shop, book and fulfil offers to their customer's satisfaction. With the launch of IATA’s NDC standard, we believe, airline travel distribution has reached a tipping point that will forever change how products and services will be offered by the airlines to all its travel partners.
“Verteil Technologies is delighted to pioneer the direct connect distribution model in the Indian market, providing travel agents with unique and differentiated offers via a completely new generation technology platform. With the successful go-live in British Airway’s NDC channel, Verteil is all set to be standard for driving adoption of direct connect NDC based solution to the Indian market as we expand to on-board all the member agents of IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI) and beyond.” said Jerrin Jos, Founder & CEO, Verteil Technologies.
IAAI, one of the major IATA Travel Agency consortiums having around 1400 agency members pan India, has recently signed a contract with Verteil Technologies to leverage its direct connect platform for their member agencies to connect directly with airlines. Verteil is currently in the process of on-boarding these agents to migrate a significant volume of indirect airline sales in India to its direct connect platform.
“We are delighted to have our partner agency, Magellan Travels to be the very first IATA agency in India to issue a standalone ticket using the NDC direct connect technology implemented by Verteil Technologies. IAAI is fully committed to doing business in the direct connect channel with our technology partner Verteil Technologies. Verteil’s technology platform is fully integrated with our in-house enterprise booking tool iTop which allows all our member agencies to seamlessly buy any travel related products. Congratulations to our friends at Verteil on making history” said Biji Eapen, President of IAAI (IATA Agents Association of India).
Airlines like British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France etc. have already launched additional fees for any bookings made through legacy indirect distribution channels which are used by most of the travel agencies today. These fees are completely waived off for tickets booked via an NDC direct connect channel like Verteil Direct Connect. With IAAI's exclusive partnership with Verteil Technologies, travelers booking BA tickets with any IAAI IATA agent pan India will not incur this additional fee.
It is indeed a proud moment for all of us at Magellan Travels to be the first IATA Agency in India to issue a ticket on the NDC channel of BA enabled by Verteil Technologies direct connect platform, Verteil Direct Connect. The entire on-boarding process was quick and easy and the feedback provided was incorporated to my satisfaction. Offline Travel Agents now have a modern platform in Verteil Direct Connect that has easy to use workflows combined with visually rich content to allow the travel agent to clearly compare multiple offers from an airline which will help us serve our customers better. The best part of this new technology is that it circumvents the distribution fee imposed by different carriers around the world thus lowering the ticket prices. Congratulations to Verteil Technologies on this momentous occasion” said Faisal Sharhabeel, Director, Magellan Travels.
About Verteil
Verteil Technologies is founded by airline techno-domain experts with close to 20 years of experience in the airline IT industry. Verteil aims to redefine the legacy airline distribution ecosystem which has been in existence for more than 40 years now. The company has already received IATA NDC Level 3 certification which is the highest level of certification given by IATA for innovations in the airline distribution space using NDC. Verteil Technologies is recognized by StartupIndia, a Govt. of India initiative for recognizing innovative start-ups. The company is backed by KSIDC (Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation), industrial wing of Govt Of Kerala, India who supports and funds start-ups with innovative products.
