GDS vs NDC vs low-cost carriers vs aggregators
Travel agencies get flights through four kinds of channel. A GDS sells hundreds of airlines' filed fares through one contract. NDC is airlines sending their own offers, which you reach through your GDS, an aggregator or the airline. Low-cost carriers sell mostly direct, and a few also through the GDSs. Aggregators put many airlines' NDC, GDS and low-cost content behind one API or portal. Most agencies use two or three of them.
What's the difference, side by side?
| GDS | NDC | Low-cost carrier, direct | Aggregator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examples | Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport | An airline's NDC API, through your GDS, an aggregator or the airline | The airline's website or agency portal | Duffel, Travelfusion, Verteil, Mystifly |
| Who builds the offer | The GDS, from fares the airline filed | The airline, live | The airline | The airlines; the aggregator merges them |
| Who pays whom | Airlines pay the GDS booking fees; the GDS pays agencies incentives | Lower airline charges, or none, than on classic GDS tickets | Usually no intermediary | The agency pays per booking (Duffel: $3 per order) |
| Changes and refunds | GDS entries; airline schedule changes arrive on the queue | Through the NDC order, in the GDS's newer screens, the aggregator or the airline | On the airline's website, by its rules | In the aggregator's portal or API |
| What you need | A GDS contract, and IATA accreditation to issue tickets | NDC enabled for your office, sometimes an airline agreement | An account with the airline | An aggregator contract; some sell on their own accreditation |
Each row is explained, with its source, below.
What is a GDS?
A GDS (global distribution system) is one system with the schedules, fares and seats of hundreds of airlines, which agents use through a terminal and developers through APIs. The three are Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport. Amadeus alone processed 471.2 million air bookings in 2024 (Amadeus, 28 February 2025).
The UK competition authority described GDSs as "two-sided platforms connecting airlines with travel agents": a GDS earns "the difference between the booking fees they receive from airlines and the incentives they pay travel agents" (CMA, February 2020). The classic GDS content travels in EDIFACT, a message standard from the 1980s.
Tickets issued on an agency's IATA number are settled through IATA's BSP, which covers more than 400 airlines and 59,000 accredited agents (IATA BSP). How the three GDSs compare: Amadeus vs Sabre vs Travelport vs Duffel for travel agencies.
What is NDC, and how do you reach it?
NDC (New Distribution Capability) is an IATA programme "for the development and market adoption of a new, XML-based data transmission standard", built on offers and orders and "open to any third party, intermediary, IT provider or non-IATA member" (IATA NDC fact sheet, June 2026). It rests on IATA Resolution 787 from October 2012. The difference for an agent: the airline builds the offer itself, with its own bundles, seats and bags.
There are three ways in, and Turkish Airlines' TKCONNECT offers all three: a direct connection through its NDC APIs, a connection through certified aggregators, and a web booking portal (Business Travel Executive, 16 May 2024).
- Through your GDS. Amadeus had "over 70 NDC agreements signed with airlines, of which 31 have been implemented" in February 2025 (Amadeus). Across the three GDSs, T2RL counted 218 airline–GDS NDC contracts, 141 of them live (T2RL, May 2025).
- Through an aggregator (next sections).
- Directly from the airline, through its API or agency portal.
The channel changes the price and the offer. Lufthansa Group's guideline from 1 January 2026 charges €8 per ticket for NDC through a GDS and nothing in its own direct ("bilateral") NDC model, against €18–23 on classic GDS tickets, and the two NDC models get a different offer (Lufthansa Group DCC Guideline). NDC is already large: half of all Air France and KLM tickets issued in France in summer 2024 went through NDC (TourMaG, 5 November 2024). The longer version: What is NDC? Explained for travel agencies.
How do low-cost carriers sell to agencies?
Mostly direct, on their website, and each airline sets its own rules for agencies:
- easyJet renewed its distribution deals with Travelport, Amadeus and Sabre by February 2020 (Travolution, 13 February 2020).
- Ryanair set new booking terms in 2026 for agencies booking it through Amadeus, Sabre or Travelport (Travel Extra, 28 July 2026), and calls online agencies with a signed deal, such as Booking.com's owner since 27 August 2025, "approved OTAs" (Law Society Gazette, 27 August 2025).
- Wizz Air took its first flight content aggregator, Travelfusion, live on 19 August 2025 (Travelfusion).
The GDSs have products for these airlines too. Amadeus Ticketless Access, for example, is "a solution for low cost and hybrid carriers" that lets agents book them like any other airline (Amadeus, 27 September 2022).
One thing to tell the client: a low-cost flight combined with another ticket is two separate tickets. If the first flight is late, the airline of the second owes nothing, and bags are collected and checked in again in between. Kiwi.com, which builds such trips itself, calls them "self-transfer" and adds its own guarantee (Kiwi.com, 16 April 2026).
What does an aggregator do?
An aggregator gives you one connection to many airlines' NDC, GDS and low-cost content, usually with an API and a booking portal. When Turkish Airlines launched TKCONNECT it named Travelfusion, Verteil, DRCT, Mystifly, Nuua, Nuflights and Theta as its aggregators (Business Travel Executive, 5 September 2024).
Aggregators charge per booking rather than per month. Duffel, for example, listed $3.00 per confirmed order, 1% of the order value for managed content and $0.005 per search above a 1500:1 search-to-book ratio (Duffel pricing). It also sells "using our accreditation and ticketing authority" (Duffel), so you can start without your own IATA licence. More on Duffel and the NDC aggregators: Amadeus vs Sabre vs Travelport vs Duffel.
Which mix fits your agency?
| Your situation | Usually the best fit |
|---|---|
| IATA agency, mostly full-service airlines, corporate fares | A GDS, with NDC switched on for the airlines that charge extra on classic tickets |
| Many low-cost flights for groups or leisure clients | The airlines' own channels, or an aggregator that carries them |
| No IATA licence, your own website or app | An aggregator that sells on its own accreditation |
| An airline's best fares only in NDC | NDC in your GDS if the airline is live there, otherwise its portal or an aggregator |
Which airline sells through which channel, with sources: Why does a flight show in one GDS but not another?
Can AI search across these channels?
Yes, as far as the AI is connected to them. GateRoam connects Claude, ChatGPT or any MCP client to your agency's own supplier contracts, so you search, price and send client offers from one chat:
| Channel | In GateRoam |
|---|---|
| Amadeus | Works today, on your own keys, with Amadeus NDC fares next to classic fares once Amadeus has enabled NDC for your office |
| Travelport+ (Galileo) | Works today, on your own Travelport access. With Amadeus connected too, one search covers both |
| Sabre, aggregators such as Duffel, consolidators | Connected on request, on your own contract. Tell us which one |
The rules are the same for every channel: your own keys, never sent to the AI; prices computed in code, never guessed; and every option ends in one branded client offer. See all integrations. GateRoam is free during early access. Start free.
Sources
Checked on 17 October 2026.
- Amadeus: FY2024 results, air bookings and NDC agreements, 28 February 2025
- CMA: Sabre/Farelogix provisional findings, how GDSs earn, February 2020
- IATA: Billing and Settlement Plan
- IATA: NDC fact sheet, June 2026
- IATA: NDC and Resolution 787
- Business Travel Executive: Turkish Airlines TKCONNECT, 16 May 2024
- Business Travel Executive: Turkish Airlines' NDC aggregators, 5 September 2024
- T2RL: Offer-Order-Settle-Deliver status report, May 2025
- Lufthansa Group: DCC Guideline, valid from 1 January 2026
- TourMaG: Air France-KLM NDC share in France, 5 November 2024
- Travolution: easyJet GDS deals, 13 February 2020
- Travel Extra: Ryanair GDS booking terms, 28 July 2026
- Law Society Gazette: Ryanair and Booking Holdings, 27 August 2025
- Travelfusion: Wizz Air and Travelfusion, 19 August 2025
- Amadeus: Amadeus Ticketless Access, 27 September 2022
- Kiwi.com: self-transfer, 16 April 2026
- Duffel: pricing
- Duffel: flight content and accreditation
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