2022 has been a comeback year for the airline industry. We are seeing activity rebound to near 2019 levels, primarily driven by leisure travel. ARC’s transaction volume and interest in our Direct Connect program have increased in tandem with the recovery.

You may be asking yourself, “What is Direct Connect?” ARC’s Direct Connect program allows airlines and agencies to use our established settlement platform to report and settle Direct Connect transactions, including New Distribution Capability (NDC). This program allows for cost-effective, flexible distribution strategies.

ARC’s Direct Connect value skyrocketed to $89 million as of October 2022, compared to $6.4 million in 2021, thanks to an increase in both airline and agency participation.

This year we were thrilled to have 36 new agencies join the program, bringing the total to 50 participants. We also successfully onboarded four airlines into the Direct Connect program, with another nine in the onboarding and testing phase. We welcomed Singapore Airlines, Air France, KLM and Qatar Airways to existing program participants, British Airways, United Airlines and Iberia.

As the program grows with new participants and airlines implementing varying distribution strategies, ARC recognizes the need for education and a central source to track each airline's program selections. A great place to start learning about Direct Connect is the program webpage, attending our webinars and viewing our capability grid detailing each airline’s specific Direct Connect implementation.

We are excited to see what 2023 brings! The Direct Connect team is available to answer your questions and chat with you about program details. Please email ndc@arccorp.com, and we’ll be in touch.