A travel agency or OTA gets Gulf airlines’ NDC fares from Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, Gulf Air and Oman Air in three ways: airline-direct, through a GDS NDC channel, or through an NDC aggregator. Tripgic is a unified travel API that returns those NDC offers next to Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport and 67 low-cost carrier fares in one response.

This guide goes airline by airline: a short answer, the key dates, then what they mean for a seller who wants one search. Airline facts come from the airline’s own announcements and those of its distribution partners, linked in the text and listed under Sources.

What Is NDC, and Why Do Gulf Airlines Sell Differently Through It?

IATA describes NDC (New Distribution Capability) as an industry-supported program for the development and adoption of a new, XML-based data transmission standard. In practice, Gulf airlines use NDC to sell their own offers, with fare brands, bundles and extras, straight to agencies instead of only through fares filed in a GDS.

An NDC aggregator connects to many airlines’ NDC APIs and gives travel sellers their offers through a single integration. Tripgic is an NDC aggregator that also returns GDS content and low-cost carriers in the same response. For the standard itself, see our guide to what NDC is.

Gulf airlines need their own plan for three reasons.

  • They sell far beyond their home markets. A traveller in Europe, Africa, Asia or the Americas who connects through Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Bahrain or Muscat is buying a Gulf airline ticket, wherever the agency that sells it is based. So Gulf NDC is a question for every seller whose customers fly long-haul through the Gulf, not only for agencies in the region.
  • They were early NDC movers. Saudia, Oman Air, Etihad and Gulf Air all reached IATA’s NDC Level 4 between 2019 and 2021, which covers offer and order management including after-sales. Emirates built a whole trade programme, Emirates Gateway, on the standard in 2020.
  • Each one did it its own way. The programme names, the NDC schema versions, the onboarding rules and the GDS deals all differ. A seller that treats “Gulf NDC” as one thing ends up with gaps on exactly the routes its customers fly most.

How Can a Travel Agency Reach Gulf Airline NDC Content?

A travel agency can reach Gulf airline NDC content in three ways: connect to each airline’s NDC API directly, use the NDC channel inside Amadeus, Sabre or Travelport, or use an NDC aggregator that holds the airline connections. What changes from airline to airline is how mature each route is.

Route What you build Airlines per integration Who handles airline changes Best for
NDC aggregator One API Many airlines, often with GDS and low-cost fares too The aggregator OTAs, B2B platforms, startups, agencies without an NDC team
GDS NDC channel The GDS’s NDC workflow, separate from EDIFACT The NDC airlines that GDS carries in your market The GDS Agencies already working in a GDS
Direct airline NDC Each airline’s NDC API plus onboarding with that airline One You Large agencies and TMCs with their own NDC engineers

A direct connection gives the deepest content from one airline, and it is the most work: a separate build, agreement and onboarding per airline, then upkeep every time the airline changes its NDC version. The GDS route is the easiest for an agent already in a GDS, but its NDC workflow runs separately from the classic EDIFACT one (our NDC vs GDS guide explains the split), and Gulf NDC content arrives there late and market by market, as the airline sections below show. An aggregator sits between the two. It holds the airline connections and returns their offers in one format. Our guide to NDC aggregators covers how they work.

Which Gulf Airlines Sell Through NDC?

All eight carriers below sell through NDC in some form. The table sums up each one; the sections after it give the detail and the source for each point. The airline and GDS announcements behind it were checked on 3 November 2026.

Airline Code NDC programme GDS NDC (from airline and GDS announcements) Through Tripgic
Emirates EK Emirates Gateway Travelport+ (June 2024), Sabre (December 2024) NDC, blended with GDS and LCC fares
Qatar Airways QR Oryx Connect Sabre (July 2022), Travelport+ (March 2024), Amadeus agreement (2021) NDC, blended with GDS and LCC fares
Etihad Airways EY Etihad Connect Sabre (June 2024, phased), Travelport agreement (January 2024) NDC, blended with GDS and LCC fares
Saudia SV Saudia NDC Sabre (January 2025), Amadeus agreement (December 2024), Travelport agreement (October 2025) Available; fares blended with GDS, NDC and LCC content
Riyadh Air RX Modern Air Retailing (MAR) Sabre (May 2025), Amadeus (August 2025), Travelport (November 2025), NDC-led Available; fares blended with GDS, NDC and LCC content
Gulf Air GF Gulf Air NDC portal Sold through its own portal and API NDC and GDS channels
Oman Air WY Oman Air NDC Travelport+ agreement (February 2026), ARC Direct Connect in the US NDC and GDS channels
flydubai FZ NDC moving to Accelya FLX ONE Traditional content in Travelport and Sabre since 2011 Part of the low-cost carrier network

Tripgic’s NDC page lists Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Gulf Air and Oman Air among its NDC airlines. Saudia and Riyadh Air are available through Tripgic as well, with their fares blended with GDS, NDC and low-cost content, and flydubai is part of its low-cost carrier network. Tripgic also publishes a deeper guide for each airline, linked in the sections below.

How Do I Get Emirates NDC Fares Through an API?

Emirates sells NDC through Emirates Gateway, launched in October 2020: a web booking portal, Gateway Direct (NDC APIs) or Gateway Sync (through approved technology partners). Emirates NDC content is also on Travelport+ and Sabre. Through Tripgic, Emirates NDC offers come back in the same JSON as GDS and low-cost fares, with no Gateway integration on your side.

Key dates for Emirates NDC:

What it means for a seller. Emirates is the Gulf carrier that pushed hardest on the GDS, and the reason matters for search results. In Travelport’s launch release, Emirates describes the content agencies gain as content “only available via the Emirates NDC channel”. So an EDIFACT-only search can miss Emirates offers that an NDC search returns. The surcharge history adds a second check: the cost of a GDS booking depends on the channel and the agreement your GDS holds. Detail: Tripgic’s Emirates NDC guide.

Is Qatar Airways NDC Available in Sabre and Travelport?

Yes. Qatar Airways NDC has been bookable on Sabre since July 2022 and on Travelport+ since March 2024, and Qatar Airways’ 2021 Amadeus deal included NDC content. Its own NDC programme for trade partners is Oryx Connect, launched in June 2021. Through Tripgic, Qatar Airways NDC offers come back blended with GDS and low-cost fares.

Key dates for Qatar Airways NDC:

What it means for a seller. Qatar Airways’ GDS route is wider than most Gulf carriers’, so an agency in a GDS can reach a good part of its NDC content today. The Travelport release quotes the airline on post-ticketing service, which tells you where it expects agents to work: changes and cancellations, not only bookings. Qatar Airways NDC offers carry fare families, dynamic pricing, published and private fares and ancillaries such as preferred seats and extra baggage, and private fares need an account code. When Qatar Airways moves between NDC schema versions, a direct integration has to be updated. Through Tripgic, that change is handled in Tripgic’s connector and your JSON stays the same. Detail: Tripgic’s Qatar Airways NDC guide.

How Do Agencies Access Etihad NDC?

Agencies access Etihad NDC through Etihad Connect, Etihad Airways’ NDC programme on release 21.3, or through a GDS: Etihad NDC went live on Sabre in June 2024 and Travelport agreed to add it to Travelport+ in January 2024. Through Tripgic, Etihad NDC offers come back blended with GDS and low-cost fares, with no Etihad Connect onboarding on your side.

Key dates for Etihad NDC:

What it means for a seller. Etihad’s GDS NDC rollout is phased by market, so an agency outside the first launch markets should check what its own GDS shows today rather than assume. For an aggregator user, the phasing matters less: Tripgic holds the Etihad NDC connection, so tracking the GDS rollout is not your job. Abu Dhabi is also a base for low-cost flying, with Air Arabia Abu Dhabi based there, so an Etihad search without the low-cost carriers on the same routes gives the traveller only part of the choice. Detail: Tripgic’s Etihad NDC guide.

Is Saudia NDC Available Through a GDS?

Yes. Saudia NDC content went live on Sabre in January 2025, its first NDC content in a GDS, and Saudia has NDC agreements with Amadeus (December 2024) and Travelport (October 2025). Saudia was one of the first NDC movers in the region. Saudia is available through Tripgic, with its fares blended with GDS, NDC and low-cost carrier content.

Key dates for Saudia NDC:

What it means for a seller. Saudia’s NDC offers carry seat maps, ancillaries, bundles and fare families, so a price-only display will flatten the very differences the airline is selling. Saudia has also moved to Orders on the Amadeus Nevio platform, turning PNR booking records and e-tickets into single order records. A shift from PNRs to orders is the sort of airline change that breaks a direct integration; through Tripgic it is handled in Tripgic’s connector. Detail: Tripgic’s Saudia NDC guide, and for the wider market our Saudi Arabia travel API guide.

How Do Agencies Book Riyadh Air, an NDC-First Airline?

Agencies book Riyadh Air mainly through NDC: its Modern Air Retailing (MAR) program gives agencies an API on IATA schema 21.3, and its GDS deals with Sabre, Amadeus and Travelport are NDC-led. Aggregators such as Verteil and TPConnects carry it too. Riyadh Air is available through Tripgic, with its fares blended with GDS, NDC and low-cost content.

Key dates for Riyadh Air distribution:

What it means for a seller. Riyadh Air is the newest airline in this guide and the clearest sign of where Gulf distribution is going. It is a test of whether a provider is ready for order-based airlines. If your platform still assumes every booking is a PNR, an NDC-first carrier will expose that quickly, in booking, in changes and in refunds. Through Tripgic, changes to the MAR API are handled in Tripgic’s connector. Detail: Tripgic’s Riyadh Air NDC guide.

Can Non-IATA Agents Sell Gulf Air NDC?

Yes. Gulf Air, the Bahrain national carrier, invites both IATA and non-IATA agents to register on its NDC portal. Its NDC platform, built with TPConnects, reached IATA NDC Level 4 in March 2021. Tripgic sells Gulf Air through both its NDC and GDS channels, with no Gulf Air NDC onboarding on your side.

Key dates for Gulf Air NDC:

What it means for a seller. Gulf Air sells its rich NDC content through its own portal and API and its traditional content through the GDS. That split, rich content in the airline’s own channel and filed fares in the GDS, is exactly the case where a blended API pays off: a seller using only one of the two sees only part of what Gulf Air sells. Our IATA accreditation guide covers where accreditation still matters on your side. Detail: Tripgic’s Gulf Air NDC guide.

How Do Agencies Get Oman Air NDC Content?

Agencies get Oman Air NDC content through Oman Air’s own TPConnects-run portal and API, through aggregators such as Verteil, through Travelport+ under a February 2026 agreement, or in the US through ARC Direct Connect. Oman Air reached IATA NDC Level 4 in June 2019. Tripgic sells Oman Air through both its NDC and GDS channels.

Key dates for Oman Air NDC:

What it means for a seller. Oman Air’s oneworld membership matters for agencies selling oneworld itineraries through Muscat, and its NDC reach is widening channel by channel. A seller that wants Oman Air’s NDC offers and its GDS fares side by side either joins those channels one by one or uses an API that already holds them. Through Tripgic, a move from schema 18.2 to a newer version is handled in Tripgic’s connector. Detail: Tripgic’s Oman Air NDC guide.

Does flydubai Sell Through NDC?

Yes. flydubai announced in October 2016 that it was the first airline certified at IATA NDC Level 3, and in September 2025 it chose Accelya’s FLX ONE to move its indirect distribution towards Offers and Orders. It also sells through Travelport and Sabre and a direct-connect API. Through Tripgic, flydubai is part of the low-cost carrier network.

Key dates for flydubai:

What it means for a seller. flydubai sits between the two worlds, and its fare types are the point. It sells three: Lite, Value and Flex. In the fare table flydubai published when it introduced them, Lite had no checked bag, Value added a checked bag and a meal, and Flex added seat selection and date changes without a change penalty; check the current terms before you sell. A flydubai Lite fare and a full-service fare on the same route are not the same product, so your interface has to show what each includes. flydubai and Emirates also run a codeshare partnership, so some flydubai flights appear on Emirates itineraries. Through Tripgic, flydubai fares come back next to GDS and NDC content. Detail: Tripgic’s flydubai guide.

A complete Gulf search also covers the regional low-cost carriers: Air Arabia and its sister airlines, flydubai, flynas, Jazeera Airways and SalamAir. An NDC-only provider can return complete Emirates and Qatar Airways offers and still lose the sale, because on short regional sectors the lowest fare can belong to one of these airlines.

Low-cost carriers often sell through their own websites and direct connections rather than through NDC, so a feed built only on NDC can leave them out. On short regional sectors, such as Gulf to Gulf, Gulf to the Levant, Gulf to Egypt or Gulf to South Asia, a leisure traveller often picks the low-cost fare. On long-haul trips, the same traveller may still compare a full-service connection with a low-cost leg plus another airline.

Tripgic’s low-cost carrier list of 67 airlines includes these regional carriers:

Carrier Base
Air Arabia United Arab Emirates
Air Arabia Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates
Air Arabia Egypt Egypt
Air Arabia Jordan Jordan
flydubai United Arab Emirates
flynas Saudi Arabia
Jazeera Airways Kuwait
SalamAir Oman

Their fares come back in the same response as NDC and GDS fares. Our low-cost carrier API guide covers why these airlines are hard to integrate one by one.

What Does One Blended Gulf Search Return?

One blended Gulf search asks the airline NDC channels, the GDS and the low-cost carriers at the same time, removes duplicate flights and returns every fare in one format with its brand and inclusions. Here is how that works for an illustrative request: a return trip from Dubai to London for two adults, sold by an agency anywhere in the world.

  1. Ask the NDC channels. Emirates flies the route non-stop. Etihad connects through Abu Dhabi, Qatar Airways through Doha, Gulf Air through Bahrain, Oman Air through Muscat, and Saudia and Riyadh Air through Saudi Arabia. Each one returns its own offers, with fare brands and extras, in its own NDC version.
  2. Ask the GDS. Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport return filed fares for the same carriers and for European and other airlines on the route, including interline combinations the NDC channels do not build.
  3. Ask the low-cost carriers. A traveller may accept a low-cost leg on part of the journey, so these fares belong in the comparison too.
  4. Normalise and remove duplicates. The same flight may come back from more than one source. The seller should see one row, not two.
  5. Show like with like. A lighter fare brand with no bag should not look identical to a flexible fare with two bags. The result needs the brand name and its inclusions.
Result type Where it comes from What the agent sees
Non-stop, branded fare with bags Airline NDC channel Brand name, inclusions, price
One-stop via a Gulf hub Airline NDC or GDS Brand or fare class, connection time
Interline or multi-airline trip GDS Fare rules from the filed fare
Low-cost leg Low-cost carrier Base fare, bags and seats as extras

Your platform should not need to know which source produced which row. Tripgic’s NDC page puts it the same way: NDC and GDS results appear in a single response with the same JSON schema, and your interface does not need to know which source provided a fare.

How Do You Compare Fares Fairly Across Gulf Carriers?

Compare Gulf fares by brand and inclusions, not by price alone. Gulf airlines sell through fare brands, each with different bags, seats, change rules and refund rules, and NDC exists largely to carry that difference. flydubai’s Lite, Value and Flex are one example, and the full-service carriers run their own families.

Three rules keep the comparison honest:

  • Show the brand and its inclusions. A cheaper NDC fare may be a lighter brand. If your page shows only the price, a traveller compares a no-bag fare with a two-bag fare and blames you at the airport.
  • Price the same thing. If one offer includes a seat and a bag, compare it with the other offer plus those extras, not with its bare price.
  • Re-price before payment. NDC offers are built live and expire. Confirm the price on the offer the traveller chose before you take the money.

Tripgic’s Flight API includes a branded-fare call, a validation call that confirms the current price, and separate baggage, seat and meal endpoints, so a platform can show the brand, price it and sell its extras in one flow. Extras on the ground, such as lounge access for a long hub connection, come from an airport services API instead. Prices returned at validation and booking are final, according to Tripgic’s API documentation.

How Do You Handle Changes and Refunds on Gulf NDC Bookings?

Handle changes and refunds through the same channel you booked in, and check before you sign that the channel supports cancellation, reissue, refunds and extras after booking for every Gulf carrier you sell. Gulf hub itineraries are long, often with a connection, and schedule changes are a normal part of selling them.

The airlines know this. When Travelport launched Emirates and Qatar Airways NDC content on Travelport+, both releases stressed servicing, including modifications and cancellations. Gulf Air’s NDC portal added order reshop across fare brands. Saudia moved to single order records, which changes how a booking is retrieved and changed.

Check four things with any provider:

Servicing check Why it matters on Gulf routes
Cancellation through the API Avoids manual work for every cancelled trip
Changes and reissues Long connecting trips change often
Refunds Must work for NDC orders, not only GDS tickets
Extras after booking Travellers add bags and seats close to departure

Through Tripgic, bookings are retrieved and cancelled through the same API you book with. Post-ticketing services on flight tickets, such as voids, refunds, reissues and name changes, carry a flat service fee per ticket; details are on the pricing page.

Who Issues the Ticket, and How Is It Paid?

Selling an airline’s NDC content directly means meeting that airline’s own agency rules, and each Gulf airline decides who gets in; Gulf Air is the one whose portal is open to IATA and non-IATA agents alike. When you use an aggregator, three questions replace the airline-by-airline rules:

  • Who issues the ticket? Ask whether the provider issues tickets for you or whether you issue them on your own accreditation.
  • How is the booking paid? Ask how money moves for each booking, and in which currency.
  • What happens on a refund? Ask where the refunded money lands and how long it takes.

Tripgic runs on a prepaid e-wallet. You keep funds in your Tripgic wallet, and the supplier net fare plus a flat fee per transaction is deducted automatically as each booking or ticket is processed. The Flight API includes a ticket-issue call after booking, so issuing the ticket is part of the same integration.

Which APIs Combine GDS, NDC and Low-Cost Fares?

Multi-source travel APIs that are also NDC aggregators combine all three. The market splits into a few types, and Gulf airlines name some of these companies in their own announcements:

Provider type Example What it offers for Gulf carriers
Multi-source travel API Tripgic Gulf NDC offers, Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport content and 67 low-cost carriers in one response (see the Tripgic section below)
NDC aggregator Verteil Riyadh Air’s launch NDC aggregator; carries Oman Air NDC
NDC technology partner TPConnects Runs the NDC platforms of Gulf Air and Oman Air; agreed to carry Riyadh Air NDC on its Iris platform
GDS NDC channel Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport Gulf NDC content added carrier by carrier and market by market; see our Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport guides

An agency already working in one GDS may be served well by that GDS’s NDC channel for the airlines it carries in its market. A platform that wants NDC, GDS and low-cost fares in one response, with one schema and one contract, needs a multi-source API. For a wider view of providers, see our guides to the best travel APIs and how to choose a travel API provider.

How to Choose a Gulf NDC Provider

A demo shows a search. These checks show whether the provider covers your routes.

Check What to ask
Airline by airline Which Gulf carriers do you sell through NDC today, and which through the GDS? Put the answer in writing
Low-cost carriers Are Air Arabia, flynas, Jazeera Airways, SalamAir and flydubai in the same response?
One response Do NDC, GDS and low-cost fares come back in one call and one schema, with duplicates removed?
Fare brands Are brand names and inclusions returned in a structure I can show the same way across airlines?
Servicing Can I change, cancel and refund NDC orders through the API, for every Gulf carrier?
Airline changes When an airline moves NDC version or platform, who updates the connection?
Ticketing and payment Who issues tickets, and how is each booking paid and refunded?
Pricing model Percentage of the fare, per-segment fee, or a flat fee per passenger?
Test before paying Can I compare live fares on my own routes before I commit?

The first row matters most. A provider’s headline airline count says nothing about whether it sells Etihad through NDC in your market. Ask for your top ten routes and see what comes back.

How Tripgic Does This: Gulf NDC, GDS and Low-Cost Fares in One API

Tripgic is a technical intermediary and aggregator, not a direct travel operator. It provides the connectivity and the normalisation. For Gulf airline content, that means:

  • Gulf carriers on the NDC list. Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Gulf Air and Oman Air are on Tripgic’s list of NDC-enabled airlines, alongside Lufthansa Group, British Airways, Air France-KLM, Singapore Airlines and others. Saudia and Riyadh Air are available too, with their fares blended with GDS, NDC and low-cost content.
  • All three sources in one response. NDC and GDS results appear in a single response with the same JSON schema, together with 67 low-cost carriers, from 700+ airline and low-cost connections in all.
  • The three GDS networks. Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport content through one agreement and one REST API, instead of a contract, an office ID and a certification per GDS, which typically takes 6–12 months per GDS.
  • No per-airline onboarding. Tripgic holds the airline NDC connections and the GDS credentials. There is no Emirates Gateway, Oryx Connect or Etihad Connect onboarding on your side, and when an airline changes its NDC version or platform, the change is handled in Tripgic’s connector.
  • The full booking flow. Search and branded fares (/flight/search, /flight/branded-fare), price confirmation (/flight/validate), baggage, seat and meal extras, booking and ticketing (/flight/create-booking, /flight/issue-ticket) and cancellation (/flight/cancel-booking). The docs include code samples in PHP, Node.js and Python, and the same API sells 2M+ hotel properties and more across 73 endpoints.
  • The fee model. The supplier net fare plus a flat fee per transaction, never a percentage of the fare. Details are on the pricing page.

How to Go Live, Step by Step

The route from first call to live bookings with Tripgic follows the steps on its pricing page:

  1. Request access. Submit the request form or book a call. The integration team looks at your use case and shows a live sandbox demo.
  2. Sign the NDA and check live prices. After the NDA, you get access to the Live Rate Check Panel, where you can review real-time flight rates in your market and compare them with your current suppliers before any payment. This is the moment to test your Gulf routes.
  3. Build in the sandbox. The sandbox is free. Integrate against the full documentation and test search, branded fares, validation, booking and cancellation for each Gulf carrier you sell.
  4. Activate. Move your account from sandbox to live. Most activations take 3–5 business days.
  5. Go live and measure. Track how many of your bookings come from NDC offers, how often re-pricing changes the fare, and how many changes and cancellations you handle without manual work.

Tripgic’s GDS page says most teams move from sandbox to production in days rather than months, against the 6–12 months a direct integration typically takes for one GDS. Our NDC API integration guide walks through the same flow from the developer’s side.

Final Thoughts

Gulf airlines were early to NDC, and they now sell some of their richest content through it. But each carrier built its own programme, and GDS coverage of that content is still arriving airline by airline and market by market. Most problems in this market come from a handful of avoidable mistakes:

  • Treating “Gulf NDC” as one programme. Emirates Gateway, Oryx Connect, Etihad Connect, MAR and the Gulf Air and Oman Air portals all differ.
  • Assuming your GDS shows everything. GDS NDC launches for Gulf carriers are recent and often phased by market.
  • Leaving out the low-cost carriers. On regional routes, the lowest fare can belong to Air Arabia, flynas, Jazeera Airways, SalamAir or flydubai.
  • Comparing prices without brands, or storing offers. Show the inclusions, and re-price before taking payment.
  • Launching without servicing, or building only for PNRs. Long Gulf itineraries change, and Riyadh Air and Saudia’s move to orders show where the region is going.

Start with your own routes. List the Gulf carriers your customers fly, read each airline’s NDC terms, and ask every provider to show those airlines in a sandbox before you sign. For the wider markets, see our guides to the Middle East, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Tripgic returns Gulf airline NDC offers, Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport fares and 67 low-cost carriers in one response. Book a kick-off call to get free sandbox access and test your Gulf routes.