What is NDC?
Learn about the history of NDC, how it works, and how to get access.
Learn about NDC certification and the Airline Retailing Maturity (ARM) index, how to get certified, and the impact on travel sellers today.
NDC certification is a classification granted to airlines, sellers, aggregators, or IT providers for the level of NDC capabilities.
As of October 2021, the industry body IATA introduced a new classification for retailing capabilities called the Airline Retailing Maturity (ARM) index.
There are two main reasons for this shift:
Comprehensive capabilities comparison
Streamlined certification programme
'We are equipping the industry with a new IATA Airline Retailing Maturity (ARM) index, which will help airlines and their partners to have visibility in airline retailing.'
IATA
The ARM index evaluates organisations’ across three categories: Capabilities verification, Partnerships deployment, and Value capture compass.
Airlines, sellers, and system providers are all assessed on this aspect of the ARM index. Capabilities are described in business terms instead of technical terms, for example, the verification process looks to see if a travel seller can process a flight booking and not if a travel seller can send a receive technical flight shopping messages.
The certification process involves validating an organisation's self-submitted capabilities against the IATA Enhanced and Simplified Distribution (EASD) standards. There are six categories that include both core and variant capabilities. The core capabilities are included below.
Shop
Order
Pay
Account
Settle
Set-up
In total, there are 83 capabilities defined by IATA. To verify capabilities, organisations can show XML messages, company docs, or a screenshot or demo of the capability in use. Organisations must register for verification by including the capabilities and the technical messages behind them, which partners using those capabilities, which capabilities are live, and when the capabilities have been confirmed.
Airlines and sellers are also assessed on Partnerships Deployment to understand the scalability of their partnerships in terms of volume, network reach, and live capabilities. The assessment process involves validating data and confirming information from retailing partners.
Airlines and sellers are measured against four criteria:
Airlines are also assessed on the Value Capture Compass to evaluate how they are becoming an airline retailer and using NDC to add value to customers and the industry.
The value capture registration involves a 50-question survey that includes questions about strategy, roadmap, processes and implementation.
This process helps airlines understand their maturity across eight core dimensions.
By completing the process, airlines will receive a score out of 100 to quantify the maturity of their retail strategy and offerings. The score also makes it easier to compare airlines. IATA will share consideration points to help airlines identify and prioritise the most critical gaps to become better equipped for modern retailing.
To get certified, organisations can find the relevant application form on the IATA ARM portal. Organisations need to complete and sign the application and pay the application fee. This fee is currently applicable to service providers and not airlines or sellers and it ranges from $3,300 to $4,950. IATA reviews the application and shares access to a secure, self-service platform to collect extra information.
The next step is for organisations to submit relevant supporting documents in the secure portal for an IATA technical subject matter to verify they meet the ARM index requirements.
Once confirmed, ARM index certification is granted and IATA will add an organisation to the ARM index Registry. At any time, organisations can submit further documentation and follow the regular process for Capabilities Verification, Partnerships Deployment and Value Capture Compass (as applicable) to update certification status.
Organisations need to pay an annual fee ranging from $1,400 to $2,125 to maintain certification.
Previous levels of certification didn’t showcase capabilities in a transparent way. Instead, there were broad levels of certification for groups of capabilities. Now with IATA’s Enhanced and Simplified Distribution (EASD) standards in the ARM index, capabilities are broken down into more detail to show the specifics of what’s available from airlines and sellers. It also includes a description of the capability and guides for implementation.
Travel sellers can choose the features most important for their business and explore and evaluate the airlines and providers that meet their needs.
The most common NDC capabilities for modern travel sellers include:
Additional features that are less common today but further enhance NDC include:
Travel sellers have different business needs and often will only need access to flight content from a fraction of the global airlines. With the introduction of the ARM index, travel sellers can better understand the capabilities available per airline and choose. This helps travel sellers choose which airlines to work with based on the features and experiences they want to deliver for customers.
The ARM index Registry shows a list of the airlines that are certified, which capabilities are available, and when they were last updated. There are currently 30 airlines with ARM index certification.
Many airlines offer capabilities under the Shop, Order, and Pay categories while a few airlines including British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas have invested in multiple capabilities across five of the six pillars excluding Account. Singapore Airlines is currently the only airline with capabilities across all six pillars.
Travel sellers can use the ARM index to explore more than just airlines – they can also find out about system providers and competitor travel sellers.
By evaluating system providers, travel sellers can learn which organisations and tools can help them build and scale their business. Travel sellers can also go through the certification process themselves to demonstrate the strength of their product offering through Capabilities Verification and Partnerships Deployment. This gives sellers credibility in the industry which is particularly helpful for building partnerships with airlines and system providers.
There are currently 45 system providers and four sellers with ARM index certification. Some offer a few capabilities under Shop and Order, while others have invested in capabilities across the majority of the 6 streams.
Duffel is ARM index certified and currently provides support for Shop — including a range of ancillaries, Order, and Pay. The full list of the capabilities offered today is available on the ARM index Registry. Learn more about our features.
Before the implementation of the ARM index, there were four levels of certification.
Airlines or aggregators that support shopping and booking, but have limited or no support for post-booking processes, for example, changes and cancellations.
Airlines or aggregators who support shopping, booking, and a limited range of post-booking processes, for example, changes and cancellations.
Airlines or aggregators who support shopping, booking, and a full range of post-booking processes, for example, changes and cancellations.
A special certification level for airlines that can support large volumes of NDC transactions determined by their technical and organisational setup, use cases, and coverage of key features.
What is NDC?
Learn about the history of NDC, how it works, and how to get access.
What are the benefits of NDC?
Explore the benefits of NDC and exclusive content not available through GDSs.
How does NDC compare to a GDS?
Discover how NDC capabilities and pricing structures differ to a traditional GDS.
Which airlines are NDC certified?
Check out the complete list of IATA NDC-certified airlines and their certification level.