American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) has announced an enhanced agreement to expand and accelerate availability of new distribution capability (NDC) fares with Lufthansa Group (LHG). 

John Bukowski, Amex GBT’s Vice President, Content Acquisition & Strategic Sourcing, said: “This new agreement reflects our joint commitment with Lufthansa Group to create more value for our corporate customers by enabling NDC content at scale while supporting the integrity and strength of their corporate travel programs.”

Heinrich Lange, Lufthansa Group’s Vice President Digital Retailing, said: “We are excited to strengthen our continued partnership with Amex GBT, as we work together to deliver robust, NDC-enabled solutions for our joint corporate customers. This collaboration empowers us to enhance servicing capabilities, offering a seamless and personalized experience, while providing better value fares and exclusive offers.”

Amex GBT has been pioneering NDC implementation in corporate travel for more than five years – in 2019 becoming the first travel management company (TMC) to connect to global distribution systems (GDSs) for online NDC content.

Amex GBT currently has more than 20 carriers in its NDC program, with NDC content available to more than 15,000 of its customers, and NDC sales in 2024 into the hundreds of millions of dollars, across 16 point-of-sale countries.

The partnership with Lufthansa Group has shown exceptional growth, with NDC-enabled content currently available to Amex GBT customers in multiple countries across Europe, generating millions of dollars of Lufthansa Group NDC sales in 2024.

The renewed, expanded agreement will accelerate NDC content availability across Amex GBT’s proprietary platforms, offline booking, and third-party booking tools. The partnership emphasizes delivering enhanced customer value through NDC, including access to NDC-only rates and special promotions with Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Discover Airlines.