SINGAPORE, 12 January 2024: SriLankan Airlines has begun the global rollout of its New Distribution Capability (NDC) agents booking portal SriLankan Direct Connect, starting with India.
The NDC platform is a breakthrough travel industry-supported programme by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that sets the pace to transform the journey for airline distribution digitally.
Adopting the technology via Sri Lankan Direct Connect allows the airline to form a powerful, direct retail and communication channel with agents and bypass traditional intermediary Global Distribution Systems to provide richer content, ancillary services and personalised offers.
“We are excited to become one of the first airlines in South Asia to introduce IATA’s NDC technology and enhance the overall booking experience for our agents. SriLankan Direct Connect is an intuitive application that will strengthen our direct distribution channel and bring value to travel agents and empower them to provide a superior service to our passengers,” stated SriLankan Airlines chief executive officer Richard Nuttall.
“The launch of SriLankan Direct Connect is a milestone moment, qualifying SriLankan Airlines for the prestigious Airline Retailing Maturity Certification by IATA,” said the airline’s head of worldwide sales & distribution, Dimuthu Tennakoon.” SriLankan Direct Connect will help us expand our distribution network and, optimise savings and efficiency and transform how we do business all at the same time”.
Agents who register for SriLankan Direct Connect will have all the fare options, ancillary products, free date changes and an incentive scheme for flown segments, among other benefits.
First launched in Sri Lanka in August 2023, SriLankan Airlines will be progressively extending Direct Connect across its network in the coming months following the global kick-off in India. Agents can sign up for SriLankan Direct Connect using the Agent Registration link on the airline’s home page.
