Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines are on track to become the first global airline partnership to achieve Level 3 Certification on the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) New Distribution Capability (NDC), standard 18.1.

Virgin has already achieved Level 3 Certification, and Delta expects to do the same in the next month. This will allow the airlines to facilitate the distribution of industry-leading products that give customers more choice and a richer shopping experience.

Delta and Virgin share a distribution vision to enable consistent retail experiences for customers, regardless of booking channel. NDC is an important building block in achieving this vision by bringing simplification and alignment across all channels to provide a single source for schedules, fares and availability, while laying a foundation for delivering more diverse offerings that will meet the needs of every customer.

“Our customers want the same experience when shopping for an airline ticket as they have when shopping for anything else – meaning no distribution surcharges and more choices with better information everywhere they shop,” said Rhonda Crawford, Delta’s Vice President – Global Distribution and Digital Strategy.