A GDS prices fares that airlines file in advance and sends bookings over EDIFACT; NDC lets the airline build each offer itself and deliver it over XML APIs. GDS wins on breadth and mature servicing. NDC wins on airline-specific fares, bundles and avoiding surcharges. Many agencies now use NDC inside their GDS as a middle route.
The core difference in one paragraph
The difference is who builds the price. In the GDS model, an airline files fares and rules in advance, and the GDS assembles a price from those filings when an agent shops. In the NDC model, the agent's request goes to the airline's own offer engine, which returns a priced offer that can include a fare bundle, seats, bags and other extras.
Everything else follows from that. A GDS booking is a PNR held in the GDS and ticketed as an e-ticket, with extras on an EMD. An NDC booking is an order held by the airline, retrieved and changed through the airline's API. The transport layer differs too: legacy GDS traffic runs on EDIFACT messages, while NDC uses IATA's XML schemas.
If you need the basics first, read how a GDS works and what NDC is and how the message flow runs. This page assumes both and focuses on choosing between them.
NDC vs GDS decision table
The table compares a classic EDIFACT GDS booking with a direct or aggregator NDC booking. GDS-hosted NDC sits between the two and is covered further down.
| Criterion | GDS (EDIFACT) | NDC (direct or aggregator) |
|---|---|---|
| Content breadth | Hundreds of airlines through one connection, plus hotels and cars | One airline per connection, or whatever an aggregator has signed |
| Fares | Published and private fares filed in advance through ATPCO | Airline-generated offers, including some fares and price points the airline keeps out of the GDS |
| Ancillaries and bundles | Limited; seats and bags often sold separately on EMDs, if at all | Branded fares and ancillaries priced and sold together by the airline |
| Changes and refunds | Mature, largely uniform exchange and refund tools across airlines | Done through order messages; depth of support differs by airline and version |
| Schedule changes | Arrive in GDS queues the agency already works | Notified by the airline or aggregator; handling differs per connection |
| Payments and settlement | Agency tickets settle through BSP (ARC in the US) | BSP can settle NDC sales too; accepted payment methods (BSP cash, card, others) are set by each airline |
| Integration effort | One certification, one API family, one mid-office feed | A mapping per airline or one aggregator API; NDC versions vary |
| Cost to the agency | GDS contract terms, plus airline surcharges on EDIFACT tickets where they apply | Build or aggregator fees; airline surcharges usually lower or absent |
| Who controls the offer | The GDS constructs the price from airline filings | The airline constructs and owns the offer and the order |
On settlement, IATA describes BSP as an "NDC-ready" environment, and IATA Pay, its account-to-account payment service, lists NDC among the channels it supports alongside airline websites. Whether a given airline accepts BSP cash, cards or other methods on NDC is set in its own agency policy, so check before you switch volume.
Where the GDS wins and where NDC wins
Where the GDS still wins
- Breadth. One connection reaches most network airlines, which matters for complex multi-carrier and interline itineraries.
- After-sales. Exchanges, refunds, voids and queue-based schedule-change handling work the same way across airlines.
- Back-office fit. Mid- and back-office systems, reporting and duty-of-care tools have been built around the PNR for decades.
Where NDC wins
- Exclusive fares. Several airlines hold back fares from EDIFACT. Aegean does not offer its Light, Family and Business Basic fare families through GDSs, Turkish Airlines offers NDC-only promotional fares through TKCONNECT, and Singapore Airlines limited its V and K booking classes to direct and NDC channels from August 2023.
- Surcharges. A growing list of airlines adds a charge to EDIFACT GDS tickets and waives or reduces it on NDC. The current amounts are tracked in our GDS surcharges table.
- Retailing. NDC carries bundles, seat maps and paid extras as the airline designed them, which is the point of airline retailing.
The gap is closing from both directions. Air France reported that NDC passed 55% of its agency sales in France by the end of 2025, while naming after-sales service as one of the main remaining friction points.
The hybrid route: NDC inside the GDS
GDS-hosted NDC means the airline's NDC offers are shown and booked in Amadeus, Sabre or Travelport, next to EDIFACT content, inside the agent's normal workflow. The agency keeps its GDS contract, office IDs and mid-office feed while gaining NDC content.
Rollouts have been steady and usually go market by market. Qatar Airways NDC content and servicing went live on Travelport+ in March 2024, Emirates NDC followed on Travelport+ in June 2024, Sabre first offered Saudia NDC content in January 2025, and Oman Air added NDC to its Travelport partnership in February 2026. See the profiles for Qatar Airways and Emirates for their channel details.
Two caveats matter. First, coverage and servicing depth in a GDS can trail the airline's own NDC API. Second, GDS-hosted NDC is not always surcharge-free. British Airways, Lufthansa Group and others route NDC through GDSs, but Qantas, for example, charges a smaller per-segment fee on Standard NDC booked via a GDS than on EDIFACT, and nothing on its Premium NDC channel.
When should an agency use which channel?
Decide airline by airline, not channel by channel. A workable rule set looks like this:
| Your situation | Sensible default |
|---|---|
| Airline adds a large EDIFACT surcharge and its NDC servicing is solid | NDC, direct or through an NDC aggregator |
| Complex multi-airline or interline trips | GDS, with NDC compared where available |
| Agency already on one GDS, limited IT team | GDS-hosted NDC for the airlines that support it |
| Non-IATA agency | A consolidator or aggregator that issues tickets for you |
| High volume on a few carriers | A direct connect to each airline's NDC API |
| Low-cost carriers | The airline's own API or a low-cost content aggregator |
Corporate agencies should also weigh duty of care and reporting: if NDC bookings do not reach the mid-office cleanly, the savings can disappear in manual work.
How to migrate from GDS to NDC, step by step
- Rank your airlines. List your top carriers by ticket volume and note which apply an EDIFACT surcharge or hold back fares from the GDS.
- Choose the access route per airline. Direct NDC, aggregator, or GDS-hosted NDC, based on your volume and IT capacity.
- Sign the commercial terms. Many airlines require an NDC agreement before granting access or surcharge exemptions. Check settlement method and any incentive changes.
- Test servicing before go-live. Run voluntary changes, refunds, cancellations and schedule changes in a test environment, not only shopping and booking.
- Connect the back office. Make sure orders flow into your mid-office, invoicing and reporting with the same data a PNR would give.
- Train agents and set rules. Define when agents should compare NDC and GDS prices, and how to handle offers that expire between shop and book.
- Move volume gradually. Start with one or two airlines, track issues and ADMs, then widen.
Keep EDIFACT access as a fallback while NDC servicing matures. IATA's longer-term aim, under ONE Order, is to replace PNRs, e-tickets and EMDs with a single order record, but that transition is gradual and has no fixed completion date.
How ReservationHub handles NDC and GDS together
ReservationHub brings these channels into one platform. Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport are pre-integrated, and accredited agencies can use their own credentials while non-IATA agencies sell through consolidator connections. NDC content comes through the aggregators Verteil, Duffel, Travel NDC and Babylon NDC, low-cost carriers through Travel Fusion, and direct airline connections listed on our integrations page include Emirates, Turkish Airlines, Lufthansa Group and Aegean.
Agencies can use it as the hosted Subscription Cloud Edition, run it on their own servers with the Source Code Edition, or reach the same content through the TripGic travel API.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between NDC and GDS?
A GDS prices fares that airlines file in advance and stores the booking as a PNR. NDC sends the request to the airline, whose own system builds the offer, including bundles and extras, and keeps the booking as an airline order. The first is broad and standardised; the second gives the airline control of content and price.
Why is the same flight sometimes cheaper on NDC than in the GDS?
Two common reasons. Some airlines add a distribution surcharge to tickets issued over EDIFACT in a GDS, and some keep certain fares or booking classes for NDC and direct channels only. The base fare can be identical while the total differs, so compare the full price including carrier charges.
Can I book NDC fares in Amadeus, Sabre or Travelport?
Yes, for a growing number of airlines. All three GDSs now host NDC content from carriers such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and British Airways, usually rolled out country by country. Check availability for your point of sale, and note that a few airlines still charge a smaller fee on NDC booked through a GDS.
Is an NDC booking harder to change or refund?
It can be. GDS exchanges and refunds work much the same across airlines, while NDC servicing depends on what each airline supports in its API and on the NDC version it runs. Test voluntary changes, refunds and schedule changes for each airline before you move significant volume.
Do NDC tickets settle through BSP?
They can. IATA describes BSP as an NDC-ready settlement environment, so IATA-accredited agencies can settle NDC sales through it much as they do GDS tickets. Which payment methods an airline accepts on NDC, such as BSP cash or cards, is set in its own agency policy, so read that before you switch.
Should a small travel agency switch from GDS to NDC?
Rarely all at once. A small agency usually does best by keeping GDS or consolidator access for breadth and adding NDC for the few airlines where surcharges or exclusive fares make a real difference, often through an aggregator or a platform that already integrates it.
Sell GDS and NDC content side by side
See how ReservationHub combines Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport, NDC aggregators and low-cost carriers in one platform.
Book a meetingTerms in this guide
Airline Retailing · Ancillaries · ARC · BSP · Consolidator · Direct Connect · Duty of care · E-ticket · EDIFACT · EMD · IATA · IATA Pay · Interline · ONE Order · PNR
Browse every definition in the travel technology glossary.
Sources
- IATA — New Distribution Capability (NDC) programme
- IATA — ONE Order
- IATA — Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP)
- IATA — IATA Pay
- Business Travel News — New Distribution Capability 2025 updates
- Qantas Agency Connect — Qantas Distribution Surcharge Policy (2026)
- AEGEAN Hub — Distribution Channel Fee (DCF)
- Travel Daily — Singapore Airlines raises EDIFACT distribution fee (May 2023)
- TourMaG — NDC, Navette, Transavia: Air France's new plan for business travel (January 2026)
- Travelport — NDC content and servicing for Qatar Airways on Travelport+ (March 2024)
- Travelport — NDC content and servicing for Emirates on Travelport+ (June 2024)
- Travelport — Oman Air renews partnership with NDC distribution (February 2026)