One year ago, on April 3, 2023, American Airlines began collecting up to 40% of fares from Edifact in an effort to shift bookings to its direct channels or new distribution capacity channels.
Travel management company AmTrav has been tracking American Airlines' available fares and price differentials since then and is scheduled to release a one-year review of its findings on Wednesday, which Business Travel News previewed . The report is similar to the 2023 report released in January.
Based on customer reservations, TMC estimates that American Airlines' nonstop and NDC fares will beat Edifact (formerly GDS) fares 49% of the time, on average from April 2023 to March 2024. I discovered that it was low. That breaks down to 47% in the last nine months of 2023 and 52% in the first quarter of 2024, according to AmTrav.
The gap between American Airlines' Edifact fares and NDC fares is also gradually widening. AmTrav found that one year's nonstop fares and his NDC fares were on average 10% lower than the fares available on Edifact, where the difference existed. This difference averaged 9.5% in the last nine months of 2023 and 11.2% in the first three months of 2024.
AmTrav's year-round study found that domestic flight fares are 48% cheaper direct or through NDC channels, with an average of 10.5% lower. For international flights, these fares were cheaper than Edifact fares on average 53% of the time, and on average about 7.2% cheaper.
The report also highlights the differences between fare brands. American's economy flexible tier tickets saw the most variation. During the last nine months of 2023, on average 93% of the time, economy flexible fares were available on direct or NDC channels that were cheaper than Edifact, and on average 38% cheaper than fares available on Edifact. It was the price. In the first quarter of 2024, these numbers were 89% and 37%, respectively.
According to AmTrav, “As promised, Basic Economy has been largely removed from corporate tools. However, most economy flexible fares and premium fares have also been removed, so most corporate booking tools now feature more expensive fares. It has become even more expensive.” “and [many] Economy fares, which account for the majority of American Airlines' revenue, have also been phased out, specifically starting in August 2023. ”
Source: Business Travel News
