Navan sees one-third of European air bookings via NDC

Nearly one-third of Navan’s corporate airline bookings in Europe were made through NDC-enabled channels last month, according to data from the travel management company.

Navan said that 31 per cent of its European airline bookings in May were NDC fares, up from 20 per cent in May 2023.

The TMC, which has NDC connections with 12 airlines in Europe, said the largest proportion of NDC bookings came from Germany with a 45 per cent share – an increase from 37 per cent a year ago. Navan said this rise was driven by bookings with Lufthansa Group carriers and KLM.

France and the Netherlands were in joint second place with 31 per cent of corporate bookings coming via NDC, while this figure was 29 per cent in the UK where British Airways enjoyed the greatest share of NDC bookings.

Further analysis from Navan showed that up to 57 per cent of fares from major European airlines may no longer be available on legacy distribution EDIFACT-based channels depending on the route.

The company did not provide details on which NDC channels were proving most popular, confirming only that it uses “multiple supply providers” including aggregators, GDSs and airline direct connects.

Michael Riegel, CEO of EMEA at Navan, said: “Our analysis of flight bookings made in Europe in the last year shows clearly that when NDC is deployed, it is increasingly preferred over legacy content.

“Many airlines in the region are early adopters of NDC and now provide differentiated content. They are seeing this utilisation with Navan, proving that NDC not only can work, but is already working, for business travellers.”

The TMC also said that NDC fares represented potential savings of up to 12 per cent due to a “combination of avoided GDS surcharges and price gaps with EDIFACT channels”.

At the ITM conference in April, Riegel shared the results of a search for a one-way flight between Frankfurt and Paris. Three fare types were returned via the GDS and seven via NDC channels. The three fare types available through both channels – Eco Classic, Eco Flex and Business Flex – were respectively 27 per cent, 22 per cent and five per cent cheaper in the NDC search.

Navan Group was ranked as the fourth largest TMC in the list of Europe’s Leading TMCs 2024 with gross European sales of €3.5 billion in 2023. The company was the third largest TMC in the UK and fifth largest agency in Germany.