NDC vs GDS: What Travel Agents in Bangladesh Need to Know

A GDS (Global Distribution System) such as Sabre, Travelport (Galileo) or Amadeus is a shared reservation system that shows many airlines' fares in one standard format. NDC (New Distribution Capability) is an IATA data standard that lets an airline build its own offer, with fare families, bundles and extras, and send it to agents directly or through those same GDSs. For a travel agent in Bangladesh, the difference shows up in the price, in the extras you can sell, and in how changes and refunds are done.

Key points

• GDS fares come from fares the airline has filed and are booked and ticketed in a shared system; NDC offers are built live by the airline at the moment you search.
• The same flight can show a different price, fare family or baggage allowance on GDS and on NDC, so compare before you book.
• Extras such as seats, bags and meals are usually easier to sell on NDC and direct connections than on a classic GDS booking.
• Change or refund a booking in the channel that created it: an NDC order lives in the airline's system.
• Domestic and low-cost airlines often sell mainly through their own systems, so direct connections fill the gap.
• A portal that shows all sources side by side lets you pick the right fare for each customer, not just the lowest number.

What is a GDS?

A GDS is a reservation network that airlines load their schedules, seats and fares into, so one agency system can book and ticket many airlines. The three global GDSs are Sabre, Amadeus and Travelport.

Travelport runs Galileo, the name most Bangladeshi agents still use, along with Apollo and Worldspan, and now sells them as Travelport+. Biman Bangladesh Airlines and most full-service airlines that fly from Dhaka sell through one or more GDSs.

How a GDS booking works:

• Booking creates a PNR (Passenger Name Record) with the passengers, flights and a ticketing time limit.
• Issuing creates an e-ticket on the airline's ticket stock.
• Paid extras such as extra bags or seats are often issued as an EMD (Electronic Miscellaneous Document), a separate document linked to the ticket.
• Fares are carried as booking classes and fare-basis codes, with the rules in text. That is why GDS fare rules often read like dense, coded text.

Classic GDS bookings use older airline messaging standards such as EDIFACT. IATA-accredited agencies issue GDS tickets through BSP (IATA's Billing and Settlement Plan). Non-IATA agencies usually buy through a consolidator or a B2B portal; our IATA vs non-IATA guide explains the difference.

What is NDC?

NDC is a data standard from IATA (the International Air Transport Association) that lets an airline send its own "offers" to sellers and receive "orders" back. It is based on XML, a structured data format. IATA's NDC programme page describes it as a format "based on Offer and Order management processes", supported by IATA Resolution 787 of October 2012 and open to any third party, intermediary or IT provider, not only IATA members.

In practice, the airline prices your search itself. It can return:

• branded fare families with plain-language descriptions of baggage, changes and refunds;
• bundles, for example a fare that already includes a seat or a meal;
• seats, bags and other extras priced live inside the same offer;
• in some cases, fares or discounts it does not put in the classic GDS channel.

There are three common ways to reach NDC content: the airline's own NDC connection (which needs an agreement with each airline), an aggregator, or a GDS's NDC channel such as Sabre NDC, Travelport NDC or Amadeus NDC.

NDC sales can still go through BSP. IATA lets airlines report NDC sales made by IATA agents into BSP through a service called NDCLink, if the airline takes part (IATA FAQ). Looking further ahead, IATA's ONE Order plans to phase out separate PNRs, e-tickets and EMDs gradually in favour of a single order record.

Why are airlines pushing NDC?

Because NDC gives them control of the price and the product they show, and it can cost them less than a classic GDS booking. Some airlines charge extra for bookings made through older GDS connections. An early example was Lufthansa Group's EUR 16 "distribution cost charge" on GDS bookings from 1 September 2015 (Aviation Week). Amounts and rules have changed since then and differ by airline, so check each airline's current policy.

What are direct connections and low-cost carriers?

A direct connection links a portal straight to an airline's own reservation system through the airline's API (application programming interface), with no GDS in between. Domestic airlines in Bangladesh and many low-cost carriers (LCCs) sell this way.

What changes for you:

• Fares are the airline's own bundles: a basic seat, with bags, meals and seats added for a price or included in a higher bundle.
• Holds are often short or not available; many fares must be paid and issued at once.
• Changes and refunds follow the airline's own rules and are done in the airline's system. Refunds may come as a credit rather than cash, depending on the fare.
• Coverage: many LCCs put little or none of their content in GDSs, so without a direct or consolidator connection you may not see them at all.

How do GDS, NDC and direct connections compare?

What does this mean for a travel agency in Bangladesh?

You do not have to pick one channel; you need to compare them for every booking.

1. Compare the same flight across sources. Check the price, fare family, baggage and change rules, not only the total.
2. Read the rules of the fare you are selling. Two fares on the same flight can carry different refund penalties depending on the fare family and, sometimes, the channel.
3. Watch the hold. Note the ticketing time limit and whether the fare must be issued at once.
4. Re-check the price before you issue. NDC offers expire, and GDS seats in a booking class can sell out. If the price rises, get the customer's agreement first.
5. Service in the same channel. Change, refund or void the booking through the channel that issued it.
6. Explain fare families to customers. The lowest family may have no checked bag or no refund. Say so before you take payment.

If you are still choosing where to book, our B2B travel portal checklist covers licences, wallet safety and after-sales. New to the trade? Start with how to start a travel agency in Bangladesh.

How does Ticket Lagbe show GDS, NDC and direct fares side by side?

Ticket Lagbe puts all three channels in one search, so you compare them on one screen instead of logging in to several systems.

• Sources in one search: Sabre, Travelport (Galileo / Travelport+) and Amadeus; NDC content from airlines such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Saudia (some through Sabre NDC and Travelport NDC); direct connections to US-Bangla Airlines, Novo Air, Air Astra, IndiGo, Air Arabia and Jazeera Airways. Biman Bangladesh comes through GDS, and more low-cost and Asian carriers through consolidator content.
• View Fares: compare booking classes and fare families for a flight, with baggage, refund and change rules for each, before you book. Each fare has its own fare and baggage rules window, with no-show charges shown where the airline gives them.
• Smart supplier routing: when a fare sells out on one GDS, the same fare is looked for on the others. If it costs more, you confirm the new price first.
• Hold, then issue: the time limit is shown for each fare. Some airlines and fares are instant-ticket only and show "Issue Now".
• Extras for some airlines: seats, meals, extra baggage and wheelchair requests.
• After-sales from the portal: refund, reissue and void requests, automatic refund and reissue charge quotes for GDS tickets where available, and same-day void where the airline allows.

Questions about a specific airline or channel? Contact our team.

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