Zeno goes live on Qantas Distribution Platform

Serko Limited (NZX & ASX:SKO) announced today that Zeno is now live with end to end NDC booking capability through the Qantas Distribution Platform (QDP), following a successful pilot with launch partner CT Connections.

Serko’s Travel Management Company partners now have the option to access Qantas airfares in Zeno through either their existing Global Distribution System (GDS) connections or through the direct QDP connection. Zeno’s flexible content engine enables travel bookings that source flights and hotels through both direct connection or traditional GDS models.

Announcing the successful go-live, Darrin Grafton, CEO of Serko said “The introduction of this capability with Qantas is another milestone in Zeno’s NDC roadmap of richer content and personalised offers that positions Zeno as the fastest and easiest way to book corporate travel, giving our TMC partners maximum choice and capability to ensure their offerings remain highly competitive.”

CT connections worked closely with the Zeno NDC team to develop the capability to offer direct content from the QDP, delivering their corporate customers greater choice and personalisation.

Ryan Potts, Head of Customer Experience, CT Connections commented “With our core technology mantra of innovation by integration, our team have worked tirelessly over the last 12 months with our partners to be able to hit this milestone of the first live Qantas NDC booking via the Zeno platform.”

Zeno’s end to end capability for direct Qantas booking via QDP extends all the way from a personalised user interface through to integration with leading Australasian TMC mid-office system Tramada.

Tramada’s Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand, Susan Enners, added: “Zeno’s direct connection to QDP and integration with Tramada will bring NDC bookings to life for the majority of Australian and New Zealand TMCs. When Zeno is combined with Tramada’s multi-source post-booking platform, forward-thinking agencies like CT Connections are able to streamline the end-to-end travel management process. Tramada has developed a way to harmonise NDC and non-NDC bookings into itineraries, invoices, reporting and more to enable a single, consistent workflow for travel agents.”

The expansion of content and ancillary offerings through NDC offers new revenue stream opportunities through Zeno. Serko has committed to the support of NDC via both direct connection and GDS, and has announced NDC partnerships with Qantas, Air Canada, Southwest Airlines and ATPCO’s NDC Exchange in the past 12 months.

NDC (New Distribution Capability) is a travel industry-supported program launched by IATA for the development and market adoption of a new, XML-based data transmission standard that enhances the capability of communications between airlines, travel agents and aggregators.

Wole Shadare