CRS
Airlines computerise their reservations. One system per airline, terminals in agencies.
How it works
The airline's own shop, in your hands
NDC is the IATA standard that lets an airline sell everything it offers through partners like NDC Deals, directly. This page walks through what actually changes for a travel agent: who sits in the chain, how an order moves, what you can sell, and where the GDS still fits.
NDC in one paragraph
New Distribution Capability is a messaging standard published by IATA in 2012. Instead of an airline filing fares into a global distribution system for others to assemble, the airline builds the offer itself: the fare, the fare family's rules, the seat, the bag, the meal, the price. A seller connected over NDC asks for offers, receives them exactly as the airline made them, and turns one into an order. NDC Deals is that connection for travel agents in India, in a portal and over an API.
- An IATA standard
- Open XML and JSON message schemas, published and versioned by IATA, implemented by each airline.
- Offers and orders
- The airline sends complete offers and keeps one order per trip, alongside the PNR and e-ticket you already know.
- Direct content
- Every fare family, ancillary and promotion the airline chooses to publish, unchanged by anyone in between.
- On NDC Deals today
- Dozens of airlines live, more being connected. See the current list.
Who sits between you and the airline
The same ticket, two very different routes to your desk.
Through a GDS and a consolidator
Every hop adds a margin and a queue. A change or refund travels back up the chain by email and waits at each desk.
Airlinefiles fares
+ fee
GDSassembles fares
+ margin
ConsolidatorB2B portal
+ queue
Youthe agent
Travelleryour client
Over NDC with NDC Deals
One hop. The airline's content exactly as published, a price you can see line by line, and an order you service yourself.
Airlinebuilds the offer
NDC API
NDC Dealsportal, API, wallet
your markup
Yousell and service
payment link
Travelleryour client
Order flow
How one booking moves over NDC
Five messages between NDC Deals and the airline. You see them as five screens in the portal, or five calls in the API.
-
Shop
AirShoppingSearch a route and date. The airline answers with its own offers: every fare family it sells, with the ancillaries that go with each.
-
Price
OfferPriceConfirm the exact price of the offer you picked, with seats, bags or meals added, before anything is committed.
-
Order
OrderCreateCreate the order. The airline holds it under its own time limit. On NDC Deals you hold, add your markup and send a payment link.
-
Pay and ticket
OrderChangePay from the wallet, by card, UPI or net banking, or let the customer pay through the link. The e-ticket is issued by the airline.
-
Service
OrderReshopOrderCancelChange dates, add ancillaries, void, cancel or refund yourself. Refunds credit your NDC Deals wallet as soon as the airline confirms.
What travels over NDC
The same things the airline sells on its own website, priced and ruled by the airline.
Fare familiesBasic to Flex to Business, each with its own rules for changes, refunds and baggage.
SeatsThe airline's seat map, with free and paid seats priced per segment.
BagsExtra pieces and weight, per direction, at the airline's price.
MealsPre-ordered meals and special requests attached to the order, not chased later.
Lounge and Wi-FiWhere the airline sells them, offered with the fare instead of at the airport.
Bundles and promotionsAirline-only offers, promo and corporate fares that never reach a GDS screen.
What it means at your desk
NDC is the plumbing. This is what changes in a working day on NDC Deals.
- Register online with your GST or PAN. Digital KYC, no cheques, no paperwork.
- Hold a fare for the airline's full time limit, add your markup, send the customer a payment link.
- Void, refund, reissue and change dates yourself, with the airline's quote on screen.
- Refunds land in your wallet instantly. Withdraw to your bank whenever you like.
- Building your own booking system? The same content and servicing are available over our API.
NDC and the GDS, side by side
Both still exist. This is where they differ for the person issuing the ticket.
| Feature | NDC | GDS |
|---|---|---|
| Who builds the offer | The airline, as one complete offer | The GDS, from fares the airline filed |
| Technology | XML and JSON APIs, real time | EDIFACT messaging from the 1980s |
| Content | Every fare family, seats, bags, meals, bundles | Fares and basic seat maps; ancillaries often missing |
| Price | The airline's price, confirmed before you order | Filed fare plus whatever the chain adds |
| Promotions | Airline-only offers, promo and corporate fares | Only what the airline files publicly |
| Servicing | Change, cancel and refund on the order yourself | Queues and emails through the consolidator |
| Refund timing | To your wallet when the airline confirms | Weeks, at the consolidator's pace |
How distribution got here
GDS
Sabre, Amadeus and Galileo put many airlines on one screen. Fares are filed, then assembled.
Online direct
Airline websites and OTAs sell direct. Agents lose content that only the airline's site can show.
NDC
IATA publishes NDC so an airline can distribute its full offer through any channel it chooses.
Offers and orders
Airlines retail through NDC partners. NDC Deals brings that content to agents in India.
Three things people get wrong about NDC
Myth
NDC is just a way for airlines to sell more.
What is true
It is a technical standard maintained by IATA. What it changes is how an offer is built and who is allowed to service it, which is why agents notice it most in refunds and changes.
Myth
NDC fares are always cheaper.
What is true
Often, because there are fewer hops and airline-only promotions. Not always. What you can count on is seeing the airline's own price and rules, with nothing hidden inside them.
Myth
NDC means the GDS disappears.
What is true
Both run side by side. Agents use NDC for content and servicing the GDS cannot show, and keep the GDS for what it still does well.
Common questions
Short answers here. The full list, with screenshots of the portal, is on the FAQ page.
Full FAQNo. The NDC Deals portal runs in a browser, and registration happens on WhatsApp. If you already run your own booking system, connect it to our API instead.
Yes. NDC traffic runs over encrypted, authenticated connections between the airline and NDC Deals, and payments go through Razorpay. Your customer's card details never pass through the agency.
Yes. The airline creates the order and issues the ticket; you get the PNR, the ticket number and the itinerary as before. NDC changes how the offer is built, not the documents.
Dozens are live today and more are being connected. The airlines page is kept current with who is live and who is in progress.
Ready to ticket on NDC?
Register on WhatsApp with your GST or PAN. Ticketing in under a minute.