Qantas NDC sees surge in volumes in July, but some TMCs are feeling the pain

Article Summary:

• Qantas’ new distribution model (from 1 July 2025) driving a big shift in airfare sales, with surcharges varying by channel.

• Qantas sees ‘positive uptake’ from industry partners

• Large TMCs reporting strong adoption, 8-17% savings for customers, industry-wide limitations and parameters of the technology/offering;

• Prepared mid-size firms who invested early in tech and training, achieving high NDC use.

• Smaller TMCs are struggling - citing major inefficiencies, failed bookings, tech gaps, and increased manual work.

• Common problems - Limited servicing, mixed system compatibility, content visibility issues, and longer Qantas support wait times.

• Industry split - Larger players see value; many independents call rollout premature and costly, keeping complex bookings on GDS

  
  

  

  
  

A new era of modern retailing

Qantas introduced a new global distribution model from 1 July 2025 representing one of the biggest changes in air fare distribution in Australia in decades. The model offers multiple ways to access Qantas content with varying surcharges based on the booking channel.

The move has driven a spike in the volume of NDC transactions in the Australian domestic market. 

Of Airline Metrics’ customer base, which represents a large share of the Australian market, Qantas NDC tickets accounted for 35% of the airline’s total domestic sales in July 2025, up from 17% in the same month last year.

Qantas Total Domestic NDC tickets - share of total (%) of Airline Metrics’ client base

Source: Airline Metrics

Jump in International NDC share too

Qantas’ NDC share of total international tickets in Airline Metrics’ client base has risen to 21% of the Australian market in July 2025, up from 3% in the same month last year.

Qantas’ Total International NDC tickets - share of total (%) of Airline Metrics’ client base

Source: Airline Metrics

NDC content is already in the Australian market for international airlines including Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, Air Canada and more.

NDC means a big shift for TMCs

The Qantas distribution changes, deploying NDC content at scale, has prompted major preparations for change amongst travel management companies and their technology partners.

Larger players like FCM and CTM report solid early progress in the NDC rollout, with some industry-wide teething issues along the way. 

But the experience has been painful for smaller players.  Georgina Byrt, Managing Director of Sanford International Travel, said in a recent LinkedIn post, ‘We’re seeing more and more TMCs claiming they’ve “nailed” NDC and that clients will be better off booking through them and move their corporate business”.

Another Australian TMC told FACTS that they were “getting pretty frustrated by the agencies that are out there pretending that everything is perfect and they are 100% NDC”. A major corporate travel buying group spokesperson said the adoption rate on Qantas NDC across its members has “varied from 0-90+% in the first few weeks” - such is the disparity in the managed travel sector as a result of this change.

An industry insider told FACTS, “as with all new technology, there is an adoption curve. Some TMCs and their clients are at the front end of the curve and getting on with it. Others will follow not too far behind, while others will take a ‘watch-and-see’ approach’. Some major corporates are at the middle or end of the curve and have not switched on NDC. 

“But overall, this is an industry full of dedicated, hardworking people - and they’re tired after the pandemic, the difficult recovery and now this. The battle fatigue is very real - and they need genuine solutions and support”, the insider said.

Larger players see value for their customers

For CTM, the uptake in Qantas NDC fares across its customer base has been strong. Jo Sully, CEO AU/NZ, told FACTS, “we’ve certainly seen strong signalling that our customers see value in what NDC can bring to their travel programs”.

Within the first four weeks of Qantas’ new distribution model launch, CTM reports savings of up to 16% on new NDC fares, with an average 8.4% savings compared to traditional fares. "Importantly, our proprietary technology is well equipped to service online bookings, changes and cancellations for bookings with mixed NDC and non-NDC fares, so our customers can self-service their bookings, resulting in time savings and efficiencies. We don’t pretend NDC is perfect, but our focus remains on what NDC can enable when it works well”, said Sully.

Melissa Elf, Flight Centre Corporate Global COO and MD ANZ, said that despite some initial growing pains, “as with any change with all-new technology”, the TMC’s efforts to collaborate with Qantas and our various players has “paid off for our corporate businesses” and the TMC was pleased with the results. Flight Centre Travel Group, like CTM, is a Qantas Premium NDC Partner.

Flight Centre’s Corporate brands of FCM, Corporate Traveller and Stage & Screen have over 3,000 customers live with NDC fares and more are being added weekly. Over 35,000 NDC bookings were created in July 2025 according to the group. Qantas fares sold through Flight Centre Corporate were delivering an average 17% savings on domestic trips for customers when compared to  the traditional content stream, called EDIFACT content, according to a press release. (That 17% will include the NDC-related savings, along with other sales operating within market and the $11.50 per segment surcharge saved by offering customers access to Qantas premium NDC content).

But there are some wrinkles to iron out. According to Elf, despite FCM and Corporate Traveller taking an industry-leading position, there are some post booking servicing issues that the industry is experiencing, “for example some difficulties changing itineraries, managing credits, adding ancillaries and Qantas call centre wait times for approximately 20% of bookings”.

“Overall, our customers have had little impact and are very happy with the pricing options. Our teams and NDC ninjas are actively engaged and working collaboratively with the likes of Qantas and Sabre to find solutions, and we expect this to resolve quickly”, she said.

“NDC is here and it’s here to stay. Corporate buyers with any notable volume of airfare bookings with Qantas should be looking to embrace this safety net”, said Connections Travel Group’s Chief Commercial Officer, Andre Moten.

“In recent weeks, Qantas introduced a waiver that effectively removes the $11.50 EDIFACT surcharge when using pre-1 July EDIFACT airfare credits. For corporate customers with significant airfare credit balances, Qantas have also devised a UATP card solution, making credit redemption easier across an organisation. NDC credits are now completely visible and available for redemption in online booking tools (eg, Serko’s platform)”, he said.

Moten added, “Mixed NDC content is available with Qantas and EDIFACT content is available with Virgin Australia, for mixed carrier bookings. This enhances cost savings and the choices of flight schedules - and it is worthy to note that Qantas NDC discounts are applied accumulatively to Market Share Deals or Qantas Business Reward structures”.

Qantas NDC airfares are cheaper than EDIFACT, according to Moten. Qantas Red-E Deals are “currently showing a variance of up to 11% between EDIFACT and NDC content post 1 July. Business Class fares are showing a variance of between 4% and discounts circa 20%. Flexi Fares are showing an average discount of 7.5% on the sampling done by CT Connections. The average saving on domestic airfares with Qantas, on the Top 15 routes preferred by our customers, was at a notable 9%”, he said.

“However and importantly, corporate buyers should be asking their travel management companies (TMCs) what type of NDC content they have access to. The correct answer you are looking for is “Premium NDC content”. There is a difference between Standard and Premium NDC in terms of the Qantas airline inventory you have access to, discount levels etc. The Premium channel is also the only one that avoids airline EDIFACT surcharges entirely”, said Moten.

The avoidance of the airline (Qantas) EDIFACT surcharge is important, valued at $11.50 per sector, i.e. Sydney to Melbourne and return would be $23 in surcharges.

Further ancillary or bundled benefits from NDC content are also intended, e.g. Qantas Frequent Flyer specific price offers; Frequent Flyer status credit offers; Frequent Flyer bonus points offers; Companion Fare offers and other bundled paid seat offers. Free seat allocations for Bronze Frequent Flyers are available now.

Moten said there are “additional touch points” from booking flow anomalies, which are escalated with technology providers and the airlines. “They should be treated as an “us problem” for TMCs and not as a “you problem” for corporate travel buyers. There is no tangible reason for delaying NDC deployment and running the risk of considerably higher airline costs with Qantas”, Moten concluded.

ATPI is an early adopter of NDC globally. Commercial Director, Peter Hosper, said it has long been ATPI’s approach to “proactively collaborate” with its technology partners when it comes to NDC,  specifically with Amadeus. “ATPI partnered with Amadeus/Cytric and we are offering our customers a solution that normalises all online content, making NDC ‘just another channel’”, said Hosper. 

Some of ATPI’s largest customers are already booking close to 99% of their Qantas domestic online bookings on NDC, “enjoying an effective saving of up to 11%, simply by adopting our online solution”, he said. Hosper added, “we are of course aware of and affected by some of the technical challenges that NDC has brought to our industry, however, we are confident that these will be resolved in due course. Our mantra is: NDC = NAP! - not a problem”.

Another global TMC who spoke to FACTS said the Qantas NDC rollout was not causing too many problems, “but it can depend on the GDS and OBTs that each TMC is using as to what does and doesn’t work”. Not all Global Distribution System companies are at the same level of NDC capability, the insider said, adding, “This will need to be an area of enquiry from travel procurement professionals”.

Preparation pays off

Meg Dolan, Commercial and Finance Manager at independent Australian owned and operated TMC, LOCALE, said that making a proactive change to our systems in the year leading up to Premium NDC introduction, was “the key behind our survival right now”. The core to this was switching LOCALE’s GDS to facilitate the feed of NDC and communication between online booking tool (OBT)-GDS-Mid Office System. (For context, LOCALE’s GDS of choice is Sabre, its OBT is Serko and Mid-Office platform is Tramada).

“The travel industry is inherently dynamic, and it continues to astonish me that some consultants in this space remain resistant to change. Transitioning to a new GDS was a significant challenge, causing delays in productivity as we simultaneously embraced NDC around Q2 of the 2025 FY. During this period, support from Qantas for agents managing NDC bookings was minimal. 

LOCALE encountered numerous incidents where bookings failed to confirm in the OBT when involving a QF NDC sector, leading to a “frustrating cycle” of blame between the OBT, GDS, and the airline. 

“This resulted in many moments of frustration (and lots of banging our collective heads against our desks)”, said Dolan. “We consider ourselves fortunate to have a Director of IT who is adept in computer coding and programming. This expertise enabled us to provide compelling evidence each time we were informed, ‘This is not a known issue,’ proving that the problems were indeed real”, she said.

“One by one, we overcame each obstacle. While we have some consultants who remain wary of NDC, the silver lining is that we now feel miles ahead of many of our competitors, both big and small. We are fortunate not to be making all of these changes at once now, and our consultants should hold their heads high knowing they are industry experts in handling QF NDC bookings.

“It’s the ‘devil’ we know and have danced with for a while now, and we are well past the negative associations with it. Our clients do not care about this acronym, nor do they appreciate their QF Account Manager mentioning it in every catch-up. However, for our SME clients, BFOD (best-fare-of-the-day) and access to it - is critical to their business operations. Making these proactive changes is how we retain clients and win new ones, ensuring we remain relevant in a competitive market”, Dolan concludes.

Scott Darlow, General Manager of Link Travel Group, an invitation-only member’s group for luxury and corporate travel agencies said member TMCs are investing a lot of time and also money into staff training and getting them ready for NDC. Link Travel Group is a joint venture between Flight Centre Travel Group, Goldman Travel Corporation and the Spencer Group of Companies.

Darlow said, “I am delighted that 100% of Link members use NDC in some way each day.  There is no doubt that there are still some gaps in the system, mainly related to partner technology such as OBTs but also in post-servicing changes.  The OBTs are getting closer and closer to a full solution and once this is done, I imagine the domestic NDC uptake will surge even further.”  

From an international perspective, Darlow believes full-scale NDC still has challenges to navigate such as reliable interline passage and booking and also post servicing with multiple airlines involved. “It will come soon enough”, he said, “and then we anticipate we will see tailed offers to clients based on dates, frequent flyer loyalty and specific flights etc, all the things that were ‘sold’ to the trade back in 2018, which seems a lifetime ago!”

“The airlines will figure it out, they are collectively billions of dollars into this journey, and I can guarantee you they are not turning back now!  I can only urge the trade as a whole to embrace it, learn it and be prepared.  I absolutely understand some of the frustrations now and over the last few years, but those who stuck with it are now positively positioned to offer the best solutions to their clients. Those who resisted it and were in denial the last few years are now chasing their tails, possibly to the detriment of their clients and their own businesses”, Darlow concludes.

Penny Spencer, Managing Director of Spencer Travel said the Spencer Travel team had been booking NDC “for a while now” and also recently turned NDC on for Serko, “so 90% of our domestic bookings are coming through NDC. There are a few “odd things” still happening, according to Spencer, such as flights not showing as NDC, “but there aren’t a lot of issues”. Spencer put the entire team through two-hour QF NDC training in July, “so the team are 100%  fully trained and utilising NDC”.

“All the issues we table with Qantas and they are aware. Internationally we are also booking NDC where we can  - there are some big differences in pricing so if we aren’t looking at the NDC options the client would be given mostly higher airfares. Qantas has been advising corporate clients about NDC, so they are aware and are asking us if we are in the Premium channel – so customers are definitely aware of NDC”, said Spencer.

David Goldman, Joint Managing Director, Goldman Travel said the rollout of NDC had been a “mixed experience, but there are encouraging signs”. On the domestic front, Goldman has seen “relatively smooth” functionality through Serko, with the only notable limitation with same-day return tickets when there is a mix of Edifact and NDC content. “This has caused some operational friction”, he said, “[but] the system is generally working well for standard itineraries, and we’re seeing progress.

Goldman has been actively engaging with Sabre to address a few persistent challenges, particularly around round-trip bookings and availability mismatches. ”In some cases, flights that appear to be widely available are proving difficult to confirm, which has understandably led to some frustration”, he said

“However, we’re confident that these issues are being taken seriously and that improvements are on the horizon. We remain optimistic that with continued collaboration and refinement, NDC will evolve into a more robust and reliable solution that better supports our operational needs. The potential is certainly there, and we’re keen to see it realised”, Goldman concluded.

NDC creates big headaches for some TMCs

For some TMCs, there have been some major pain points around servicing and call wait times associated with the NDC rollout. One TMC respondent commented that Qantas NDC is “a dirty word around here”.  The rollout had presented challenges for the TMC and its clients. 

“While I understand the industry shift, the transition has not been without significant growing pains. For our team, additional manual processes and workarounds have been introduced so our clients benefit from this channel.  These processes and workarounds weren’t previously required through traditional GDS channels, so a lot of extra manpower has been required – more time-consuming and, in some cases, less efficient which unfortunately impacts turnaround times.

From a client perspective, we have had to manage expectations around what can and can’t be done with NDC content incl. fare types, add-ons, limited servicing functions which are more limited or harder to action than before, which has caused understandable frustration.

The TMC said the frustration also lies with its technology partners. "Despite these hurdles, we’re committed to minimising disruption and continuing to advocate for improvements.  Our internal processes and workarounds ensure our clients continue to receive the level of service they expect from us, but it’s clear that more development and refinement is needed – from all parties”.

TMCs appreciate responsive suppliers, particularly during times of disruption, but one TMC said at a recent forum that there is “collective buck-passing” when it comes to NDC, resulting in hours wasted on calls for consultants.

A technology provider said TMC support hold times with Qantas “would have had a sharp uptick” since the rollout. The spokesperson added that NDC “looks smooth from the user but behind the scenes there's a lot more work to go. This doesn’t feel like a technology step forward or a servicing improvement at all.  

Georgina Byrt, of Sanford Travel added that NDC was proving to be “a real living nightmare” and while it’s OK for offline simple bookings, "we haven’t turned it on for clients, as the system can’t do what clients require”. Sanford -  a Qantas Premium NDC user - had 83% of its Qantas domestic bookings on NDC in July. But, “90% are being rebooked due to the technology limitations of Serko and Amadeus”, said Byrt. Sanford is manually rebooking each Qantas booking, so that clients are not affected by the fare difference between NDC and EDIFACT. 

Byrt added in a LinkedIn post, ‘We had a client request what should’ve been a simple Qantas booking: Melbourne → Adelaide → Brisbane → Melbourne. A five-minute task, right? Not with NDC”.

“When our consultant searched for the full itinerary via Qantas NDC, the system returned an error—no results at all. We then tried searching the segments separately (Melbourne–Adelaide and Adelaide–Brisbane), and again, errors. After contacting Qantas Agency Connect, we were told this is a known issue: NDC currently doesn't support itineraries that route into Adelaide and then into Brisbane.

“Their advice? Book each leg as separate one-way sectors. Do we charge our client multiple booking fees for the extra time and manual effort? No we don’t. Because it’s not their fault that the technology being pushed out to market simply doesn’t work as promised”.

Byrt concluded, “The savings are definitely real for clients - once the technology is there. It is a positive outcome for customers and TMCs”. 

Forty-year industry veteran, Mark Chaskiel, the CEO and Joint Managing Director of FBI Travel said, “NDC is still a very, very sore point for so many of us. Independent travel agents are not tech companies. We buy the tech in - and it is meant to work for us, but it’s not!  With the complexity of this change, it’s almost as though they’re making it so hard that we give up. We didn’t see a partnership approach with Qantas during the pandemic and we’re not seeing it now. It’s just words, not real change.

Chaskiel added, “As an industry, we have capitulated and it’s created a bad booking process and inefficient workflow. Every other industry has a cost of distribution - but in travel, it just keeps coming under attack. We have become marginalised”, Chaskiel said.

“The reality is, we want to keep selling their product, but we’ve been put into a position where our hands 

are tied. We’re concerned QF and the larger TMCs will be asking our corporate clients, ‘are you getting the best fares available via NDC?’ I still want to believe we can move to a better position than the broken one we’re in now - let alone an optimised and effective workflow”, he said.

Another TMC said that it’s “still early days for us in terms of forming a full view”, but Qantas NDC was a “mixed bag” across its client base. 

“Some haven’t noticed much change at all”, they added, “while others have raised early concerns around transparency and servicing friction. From our side, we’re keeping a close watch and leaning on our airline contacts and tech partners to make sure we’re across the changes as they evolve. Internally, we’re having more conversations about fare construction, channel fees, and how we guide clients through the shifts in content availability - so it’s definitely pushed NDC higher up the day-to-day agenda”, the TMC spokesperson added.

Sanford Travel’s Georgina Byrt concluded, “While we support innovation, rolling out tech that isn’t fully ready - without proper support, transparency, or workarounds - impacts our consultants and clients directly. Lesson learned: For now, we’ll stick to GDS for complex itineraries. The tools need to work as hard as we do”.

Qantas recognises there are “real challenges and areas for improvement” as the industry works through this transition. Kathryn Robertson said, “As everyone continues to build out their capabilities, we've introduced Live Assist, which is our new live chat feature connecting agents directly to the Qantas Agency Connect team, and we're expanding our support team to help partners when they need assistance.

"We're committed to listening and working through solutions with our partners and customers. Success will come from continued collaboration and constructive feedback”, Robertson concluded.

Modern retailing will be one of several hot-button issues discussed at the FACTS 2025 at the ICC Sydney on 25-26 November 2025.

Background to Qantas NDC

Source: Qantas