SAP Concur Enables Access to NDC Content for British Airways and Lufthansa

SAP Concur announced that it will now allow its clients to configure Concur Travel to enable NDC content from British Airways and Lufthansa.

Beginning today, all Concur Travel corporate customers and their travel management companies booking that content will be able to bypass the global distribution system and avoid any carrier-imposed GDS distribution fees, as well as ensuring travelers will have access to the widest range of choices available, the company said in a statement.

SAP Concur is the only company that provides multiple ways for travel managers to bring non-GDS content into their managed travel programs and reduce their costs along the way.

Concur Travel customers will now have two different options for obtaining the full content of British Airways, as well as access to Lufthansa Group airlines’ NDC Smart Offer. They can enable NDC content via the Select Access content feature and see the content directly in the Concur booking tool, and/or they can enable TripLink to capture all of the benefits of managed travel, even if their travelers are booking directly on the airlines’ website.

“Both SAP Concur and we are committed to delivering innovative travel solutions. With our combined technology and the direct interface via Concur Travel to all Lufthansa Group airlines and Concur TripLink to lufthansa.com, we believe in our joint ability to enhance the end-to-end experience of our product innovations for all partners in the value chain,” said Xavier Lagardère, head of distribution, for Lufthansa Group Hub Airlines.

“Our TripLink connection went live in April 2018, and we are delighted that the NDC connection will now also be available to all Concur Travel customers and their TMCs,” said Ian Luck, head of distribution, at British Airways. “Our aim is to give our customers choice and offer multiple options to purchase British Airways flights and products in a way that best suits their needs, while also providing access to new fares and products that are enabled by our NDC capability.”

“We’ve been working diligently with British Airways, Lufthansa Group airlines, Travelfusion, Farelogix, and several other travel management companies on pilots to ensure that we are able to deliver the necessary experience via NDC,” said SAP Concur in a statement.

Concur’s President Jim Lucier said GDS surcharges from both carriers were a large driver in getting them fully rolled out first. “It’s not a coincidence that it happened with two European carriers first,” said Lucier during a BTN conference. “We have customers coming to us saying they want access to that content and are not particularly excited about surcharges.”

Concur also announced that Lufthansa will be joining British Airways in integrating with Concur TripLink, which will go live in the fourth quarter of this year. This will enable travelers to book directly on Lufthansa’s website and have booking data flow back to their corporate travel programs.