Ethiopian Airlines, EgyptAir, Nile Air and Riyadh Air are assembling distribution connections across technology platforms, aggregators and GDSs. Their choices show why an NDC go-live rarely tells the whole story.
Read the 2026 announcements one at a time and each looks like a choice of partner. Riyadh Air’s content went live on Verteil in March. Nile Air launched through Verteil Direct Connect in April. EgyptAir deployed IATA NDC 24.4 through TPConnects’ Astra platform in July. Ethiopian Airlines went live on AirGateway on 16 October. Lay the four airlines’ distribution maps side by side and a different picture appears. None of them relies on one route, and among the announcements TDN reviewed, no single provider is named for all four.
This piece maps the connections that airlines and providers have announced publicly. It does not claim to capture every live integration, and TDN will add any live connection a provider confirms that is not listed here.
Ethiopian Airlines: the newest route, not the only one
AirGateway’s go-live lets agencies shop, hold or ticket, pay by cash or card, and handle seats, ancillaries, voids, refunds and rebookings inside BookingPad, the AirGateway API and partner tools. It joins a long list. Verteil lists Ethiopian’s NDC channel as live on Verteil Direct Connect, although TDN could not find a date. Travelport signed a distribution agreement with Ethiopian in August 2022 that provided for NDC content on Travelport+ once the airline made it available, and TDN found no announcement that it has since gone live there. Kenyan consolidator AfroAtlas announced in September 2022 that it would carry Ethiopian’s NDC content.
Ethiopian has also built routes and technology of its own. It began processing NDC transactions through ARC Direct Connect in November 2025. The same month, Sabre announced that its NDC IT solution and SabreMosaic retailing platform would support Ethiopian’s offers, which is airline-side technology rather than a seller-facing distribution channel. In January 2026 Ethiopian signed Nucore Technologies to strengthen its Agency Portal, its direct channel for agencies, aggregators and corporate customers. Its NDC documentation also invites larger agencies to connect directly.
EgyptAir: one provider on both sides, then a GDS
EgyptAir’s relationship with TPConnects runs through both of the company’s products. It adopted Astra, the airline-side platform with an agency booking portal and API, in 2023. It launched its content on Iris, TPConnects’ aggregation platform, in September 2025. In July 2026 it became the first airline in the Middle East and Africa to deploy NDC 24.4 in production, again through Astra.
Travelport added a second route on 30 July with a long-term agreement covering EDIFACT and NDC through Smartpoint and TripServices. NDC content will arrive as it becomes available, and no rollout timeline has been disclosed.
Nile Air: Verteil distribution and Amadeus airline technology
Nile Air launched NDC distribution through Verteil Direct Connect in April 2026, aimed first at Egypt and the GCC. Separately, Nile Air adopted Amadeus’ complete airline IT portfolio in 2016, and its 2023 renewal covered Altéa NDC and the Amadeus Travel Platform. TDN’s June analysis also recorded an expanded partnership with PMI Flight for international NDC distribution from November 2025.
Riyadh Air: the airline publishes its own list
Riyadh Air’s Modern Air Retailing page names five approved aggregators: Verteil, AirRetailer, TPConnects, Travelfusion and NuFlights. Direct Connect is open by invitation only, and agencies can also use its own Agency Hub.
The dated announcements show how the stack was built. Verteil was named launch aggregator in April 2025 and went live on 18 March 2026. TPConnects announced Iris in May 2025, and Travelfusion signed in December 2025. TDN found no dated announcements for AirRetailer or NuFlights beyond Riyadh Air’s own listing.
The GDSs came in parallel. Sabre was named first global distribution partner in May 2025. Amadeus signed in August 2025 and will distribute Riyadh Air’s NDC content. Travelport signed in November 2025, with NDC as the primary integration and legacy content as secondary. Almatar became the first OTA to integrate with Riyadh Air’s NDC platform in June 2025. All of it sits on an Offer and Order platform built with FLYR.
Same providers, different jobs
The same provider plays different roles depending on the airline. TPConnects is both the airline’s technology supplier and an aggregator for EgyptAir, but only an aggregator for Riyadh Air. Sabre is airline-side technology for Ethiopian and a seller-facing GDS distribution partner for Riyadh Air. Amadeus supplies Nile Air’s airline IT and is a GDS distribution route for Riyadh Air. Verteil is a seller-facing route in each case where it appears.
TDN’s reading is that the contest is no longer simply about winning an airline. It is about securing a position in the airline’s distribution network. Airlines are adding connections to extend market reach, while providers compete for different points in the chain. The airline-side technology provider may influence how offers are created and managed. An aggregator may determine how efficiently those offers reach agencies. A GDS can provide access to an established distribution network that an airline would struggle to replicate independently.
For agencies, more connections do not automatically mean better access. Content availability, booking functionality, servicing capabilities and payment terms can vary by route. The next question is whether agencies can use these connections consistently in their daily operations. TDN examines that challenge in its analysis of agent access: https://traveldistributionnews.com/africas-airlines-are-counting-ndc-connections-almost-nobody-is-counting-the-agents-using-them/
