GDS vs non-GDS airlines: how travel agents book low-cost carriers.

What is the difference between GDS and non-GDS airlines?

A GDS airline distributes its schedules, availability and fares through one or more global distribution systems, so any agency connected to that GDS can shop, book and ticket it. Traditional full-service carriers have worked this way for decades.

A non-GDS airline keeps its inventory in its own reservation system and sells only through channels it controls: its website and app, call centres, an agent portal, or a direct API. Many low-cost carriers started this way to avoid GDS booking fees.

The line is now blurred. Several large low-cost airlines have signed GDS deals while keeping their direct channels, and some full-service carriers have moved part of their content out of classic GDS fares into NDC. "Is this airline in the GDS?" usually needs a more precise answer: which GDS, in which countries, and with which fares.

Three ways low-cost airlines reach agencies

• Direct-only. The airline sells through its own website, sales offices and, often, a travel agent portal. No GDS agreement is published. Airblue and AirSial in Pakistan both invite agencies to apply for portal access.
• Hybrid: GDS plus direct. The airline has one or more GDS agreements but keeps an agent portal, API or aggregator route. flydubai, the subject of the common question "is flydubai GDS or LCC?", is a low-cost carrier that has been in Travelport and Sabre since 2011 and also offers a direct API.
• Selected channels only. The airline approves a list of GDSs and aggregators and may set terms for each. easyJet publishes such a list; Ryanair has changed its GDS terms several times since 2014.

Many LCC GDS deals use a lighter technical model than classic fare filing. IndiGo's first GDS deal with Travelport in 2016 used an XML API connection; Amadeus describes its Air Arabia link as connecting directly to airline systems in real time, and Wizz Air content reaches Amadeus users through Amadeus Ticketless Access.

Low-cost and hybrid airlines: GDS and agent channels

The table covers low-cost and hybrid carriers in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe. "In GDS?" names only GDS agreements we could verify with a dated source; the date in brackets is the announcement or go-live. Most of these deals were rolled out by market, so check availability for your country of sale.

As of November 2026. We left out airlines, including Air India Express, where we could not open a dated source for their agency channels. IATA codes are from IATA's code search; easyJet and Wizz Air operate several airline companies, each with its own code, and only the codes shown there are listed.

Regional patterns: Gulf, South Asia and Europe

Gulf low-cost carriers are now mostly in at least one GDS. flydubai has been in Travelport and Sabre since 2011, Jazeera has deals with all three GDSs, and flynas sits in Amadeus and Travelport. The newest moves came in 2025 and 2026, when flyadeal, Air Arabia and SalamAir signed with Amadeus and SalamAir also went live on Sabre.

South Asia is split. Indian low-cost airlines have joined GDSs one at a time: IndiGo with Travelport in 2016 and Amadeus NDC in 2024, and Akasa Air with Travelport in 2026. Pakistan's private carriers Airblue and AirSial, by contrast, publish agent portals and no GDS agreement we could verify, so agencies there still book them outside the GDS.

European LCCs choose and control their channels. easyJet lists approved GDSs and aggregators, Ryanair sets booking terms that GDS users must accept, and Wizz Air added its first GDS only in October 2026, after opening API access through Kyte and Paxport.

How agents reach non-GDS and partly distributed airlines

If a low-cost airline is not in your GDS, or not in your market, there are three practical routes.

1. The airline's agent portal

Many LCCs run a web portal for registered agencies, often with a deposit or credit limit, agency commission or net fares, and e-ticketing. Airblue, AirSial and flydubai all invite agencies to register. A portal is quick to start with, but your agents work in a separate screen and bookings sit outside your GDS and mid-office.

2. A direct API

Some airlines give agencies or platforms a direct connect API. flydubai offers one on request, and Pegasus publishes an NDC developer portal covering shopping, booking, ticketing and refunds. A direct API brings the airline's full fare range into your own booking engine, at the cost of one integration and one commercial agreement per airline.

3. An aggregator

A travel aggregator connects to many airline APIs and websites and resells access through one API. Travelfusion, an aggregator built around low-cost content, says its flight API covers more than 400 low-cost carriers and more than 70 NDC airlines, with servicing for changes, cancellations and post-booking ancillaries. Others, such as Duffel, Kyte and Paxport, appear on airline approved-channel lists. Aggregators can cover several of the airlines in the table through a single connection.

GDS or direct: what to check before you book an LCC

• Fare parity. Does the GDS show the same fares and bundles as the airline's website? Trade press reports that Ryanair bookings on Amadeus now have fare parity with ryanair.com, but parity is set airline by airline, so check each one.
• Ancillaries. Bags, seats and bundles are central to how LCCs price a trip. Check whether your channel can sell them at booking and after ticketing.
• Ticketing and payment. Some LCCs ticket on their own stock through BSP (SalamAir on OV960, for example); others use a ticketless model or require card or deposit payment.
• Servicing. Find out how changes, refunds and schedule disruptions are handled in each channel before you sell. In a portal they are usually manual.
• Terms of access. Some airlines approve only named channels or set their own booking terms for each GDS, as easyJet and Ryanair do. Book through channels the airline lists.
• Your market. Most LCC GDS deals start in a few countries. flyadeal launched on Amadeus in Saudi Arabia first; SalamAir's Sabre launch began in six markets.

For full-service airlines, the same question increasingly applies to NDC: see our NDC airlines list and NDC vs GDS.

How ReservationHub fits

ReservationHub puts GDS, NDC and low-cost content in one booking platform. Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport are pre-integrated, with low-cost carriers available through Travel Fusion and NDC through the aggregators Verteil, Duffel, Travel NDC and Babylon NDC.

Our integrations page lists more than 110 pre-built connections, including direct connections to Air Arabia, Jazeera, flydubai, flynas, flyadeal, Airblue and AirSial. Agencies can use it as the hosted Subscription Cloud Edition, own it with the Source Code Edition, or call it through the TripGic Travel API.