Airline distribution Travel technology glossary

ONE OrderIATA ONE Order standard

Also called One Orderairline ordernative orderoffers and orders

Definition

ONE Order is an IATA standard that replaces an airline's separate booking, ticketing and ancillary records with a single customer order. Instead of a PNR, an e-ticket and one or more EMDs, every product in a trip sits in one order with one reference that partners can use.

What ONE Order means

Today an airline sale normally creates several records. The PNR holds the itinerary and passenger details, the e-ticket proves the flight was paid for, and each extra such as a bag or seat may need an EMD. These records are linked but separate, so airlines and agencies spend effort keeping them in step and reconciling them.

IATA's ONE Order sets out to phase out PNRs and ticketing records and combine booking, ticketing and delivery into one order. IATA summarises it as one reference, one process and one industry: a single reference that interline partners, sales channels and ground handlers can all use, a single order management process from purchase to settlement, and a model that lets network and ticketless carriers combine services. The standard is XML-based and is governed by IATA's Shop-Order Standards Board. The supporting IATA resolution, Resolution 797, dates from June 2017.

ONE Order is the fulfilment half of modern airline retailing. The offer half is NDC. Together they let an airline build a priced offer, sell it and then manage it as an order through to delivery and settlement.

Live use is still early. On 5 May 2025 Finnair's chief executive created what Finnair and Amadeus describe as the world's first native order, on Finnair.com using the Amadeus Nevio platform.

How ONE Order works

In an order-based model the order is created from an accepted offer and then updated through its whole life.

  1. Offer is acceptedThe customer or agent accepts an airline offer, usually received through an NDC or direct channel.
  2. Order is createdThe airline's order management system creates one order containing flights, services, passengers and payment, with a single order ID.
  3. Partners use the referenceSellers, interline partners and ground handlers retrieve or act on the same order rather than on separate records.
  4. Services are deliveredEach flight or service is marked as delivered when consumed, for example when the passenger boards or uses a lounge.
  5. Accounting and settlement followRevenue accounting and partner settlement work from the order's delivered items rather than from ticket coupons.

ONE Order in practice

Today versus ONE Order (illustrative): a traveller buys a return flight with one checked bag and a seat. In the traditional model this produces one PNR, one e-ticket and up to two EMDs, each with its own number. In a ONE Order model the same purchase is a single order, for example order ID XX-ORD-48213, with four order items.

Change scenario (illustrative): if the traveller later changes the outbound date, the airline updates the flight item in the order and reprices it, rather than reissuing a ticket and checking which EMDs must also be exchanged.

Live case: Finnair became the launch customer for Amadeus Nevio, an offer-and-order platform, and created its first native order for a Helsinki to London Heathrow flight on 5 May 2025.

Who uses it

AirlinesCarriers adopt order management systems to simplify servicing and accounting and to sell bundles that are hard to describe with tickets.
Travel agenciesAgencies will increasingly receive order IDs instead of ticket numbers and need booking and mid-office tools that can service orders.
Technology providersPSS, GDS, middleware and accounting vendors are building order-based products and adapting settlement flows.
Ground handlers and partnersHandlers and interline partners would use one order reference to see what a passenger has bought.

Advantages and limitations

Advantages

  • One record per customer purchase removes much of the reconciliation between PNRs, tickets and EMDs.
  • Orders can hold any product an airline sells, which supports bundles and personalised offers.
  • A single reference is simpler for travellers, agents and partners to use.

Limitations

  • Adoption is slow because PSS, GDS, agency, settlement and airport systems all need to change.
  • During a long transition, agencies must support both ticket-based and order-based airlines.
  • Interline and settlement processes built on tickets and coupons need new standards and agreements before orders work across partners.

Frequently asked questions about ONE Order

Will ONE Order replace the e-ticket?

That is the aim. IATA describes ONE Order as gradually phasing out PNRs and ticketing records, which include e-tickets and EMDs, in favour of a single order record. The change will happen airline by airline, so ticket-based and order-based processes are expected to run side by side for years.

What is the difference between NDC and ONE Order?

NDC covers the shopping and offer side: how an airline builds and sends priced offers to sellers in XML. ONE Order covers what happens after the sale: how the purchase is stored, changed, delivered and settled as a single order. IATA treats them as two parts of the same offers and orders programme.

Which airline was first to use ONE Order?

Finnair says it was the first airline globally to go live with a native order. Its chief executive created the first one on Finnair.com on 5 May 2025, booking a Helsinki to London Heathrow flight on the Amadeus Nevio platform, for which Finnair is the launch customer.

How will ONE Order affect travel agents?

Agents will gradually work with order IDs rather than ticket numbers for airlines that adopt it. Changes, refunds and extras would be handled by updating the order, which can be simpler, but agencies need booking tools, mid-office systems and settlement processes that support orders as well as tickets.

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Sources and further reading

  1. IATA — ONE Order
  2. IATA Developer — About ONE Order
  3. IATA — Modern Airline Retailing
  4. Amadeus — Finnair first airline globally to create a native order