ARC, in partnership with British Airways, has successfully tested and implemented enhancements to its settlement platform.

As a result, ARC is equipped to facilitate the full spectrum of distribution strategies (including New Distribution Capability, or NDC) for all ARC participating airlines, while continuing to support existing systems and processes. Initially announced at TravelConnect 2017, this implementation gives airlines and travel agencies more options to create bilateral agreements that make enriched, customized air travel content more accessible.

Since October, ARC and British Airways have partnered to test this platform, ensuring its reliable performance in processing nonstandard transactions. “British Airways is excited to be the first test partner for ARC’s enhanced settlement functionality, which enables us to evolve our distribution strategy with the travel agency channel,” said Simon Brooks, British Airways’ senior vice president, sales for North America.

"ARC has always been a trusted partner to British Airways, and we have valued their flexibility, responsiveness and collaboration during this testing process," he said. "These enhancements will aid us in developing our relationships with agencies, and they set the stage for our growing distribution strategy in the U.S."

This implementation gives airlines and travel agencies more options to create bilateral agreements that make enriched, customized air travel content more accessible.

Enhanced settlement allows airlines and travel agencies to more effectively manage their partnerships and to do business together in the way they choose. It also opens doors to richer content and more customized offers for the travel agency and, in turn, travelers. In addition, these partnerships have the potential to increase travel agencies’ visibility into airline offerings, giving them more options to create experiences tailored to their clients’ needs.

With ARC’s enhanced platform, airlines can implement the features that best match their individual distribution strategies. This includes the ability for airlines to set settlement parameters for NDC transactions, the option to use neutral ARC or airline ticket stock, the acceptance of both the ARC and IATA sales file formats and multiple credit card billing options.

These enhancements will aid us in developing our relationships with agencies, and they set the stage for our growing distribution strategy in the U.S.

– Simon Brooks, British Airways

“ARC is proud of this milestone, which will enable a wide variety of distribution strategies today and in the future,” said ARC’s senior manager of industry relationships, Shelly Younger.

“ARC is committed to supporting our industry partners and enabling them to enhance the value of their own partnerships. We are pleased to partner with British Airways as part of our ongoing commitment to increase efficiency, reduce complexity and provide flexibility for our customers.”

To learn more about ARC’s offerings for airlines’ evolving distribution strategies, visit our distribution webpage.