Lufthansa Group has announced it has signed an agreement with Travix International BV (Travix), hooking up the online travel agency with Lufthansa Group’s own NDC offer & order management system.

The partnership comes as a part of Lufthansa’s ‘NDC Partner Programme’ and will give customers access to a host of benefits through rich content, as well as offering exclusive fares on the group’s member airlines – Lufthansa, Swiss International Airline, Brussels Airlines and Austrian Airlines – through the ‘Lufthansa Group NDC Smart Offer’.

This is a unique opportunity to modernize the air travel distribution towards a customer centric experience – John Mangelaars, Travix

Travix, a subsidiary of corporate travel management company BCD Group, operates five brands – BudgetAir, CheapTickets, Flugladen, Vayama and Vliegwinkel – processing over 3.5 million customers passengers a year from 39 different countries from offices in Germany, Netherlands, India, Singapore and the United States.

Discussing the multi-year deal, which will enable Travix’s customers full clarity on offerings such as inclusive luggage and ticket alterations, Travix CEO John Mangelaars said: “This is a unique opportunity to modernize the air travel distribution towards a customer-centric experience. Travix was a key driver and early adopter to show the Lufthansa Group’s customized fare bundles and to display its rich content.

Based on the Lufthansa Group NDC Offer & Order Management System, both partners follow their path to innovate and manifest their leading role in an evolving marketplace.”

Ultimately the goal for both companies is to shift the focus back to the customer through greater transparency, encourage technological innovation as well as to create value in the marketplace.

With this new deeper level of cooperation, the long-term partners believe they are in a prime position “to shape the distribution landscape of the future” and, due to the breadth of both companies resources and enormous customer base, I think that this is a move in the right direction.

Especially if they really do begin to put the needs of the customer first. Which, according to Timothy O’Neil Dunne, co-founder of Air Black Box and well-known industry critic, puts at number seven on his list of airline priorities — and is an area Travix hasn’t always excelled at in the past.

However, Heike Birlenbach, head of sales for the hub airlines of the Lufthansa Group and chief commercial officer of the Frankfurt Hub believes the time for change is ripe: “With the upcoming NDC Partner Programme we also take another step forward with regards to modern airline-retailing-business models, by offering agents a preferred value proposition encompassing technology, servicing, offers and in the future strategic cooperation components.“