International ticket sales via the Amadeus Travel Platform will begin in Japan on October 1 and expand to overseas markets from October 13.
Japan Airlines and Amadeus will begin distributing JAL international ticket content via NDC through the Amadeus Travel Platform in October 2026.
- JAL and Amadeus will begin distributing JAL international ticket content through the Amadeus Travel Platform using NDC in October 2026.
- Sales are scheduled to start in Japan on October 1 and in overseas markets on October 13.
- Travel agencies using Amadeus across 26 countries and regions will gain access sequentially to JAL Group international ticket content via NDC.
- JAL says the Amadeus Travel Platform rollout is the first such initiative by a Japanese airline.
(NEWS) TOKYO, Tokyo, Japan, 2026-Sep-24 — /Travel PR News/ — Japan Airlines is extending its New Distribution Capability strategy into the Amadeus agency network, giving travel sellers in 26 countries and regions a new route to JAL Group international ticket content from October 2026.
Under the rollout announced jointly by JAL and Amadeus IT Group on September 24, NDC sales through the Amadeus Travel Platform will begin in Japan on October 1, 2026, before expanding to overseas markets from October 13. The arrangement applies to international flight tickets.
JAL describes the Amadeus Travel Platform connection as a first for a Japanese airline. The carrier says agencies using Amadeus in the participating markets will be able to begin handling JAL Group tickets through NDC on a sequential basis rather than through a single simultaneous global switch-on.
What the Amadeus connection changes for travel sellers
New Distribution Capability, or NDC, is an airline distribution standard developed by the International Air Transport Association for exchanging flight-ticket and ancillary-service content. It is intended to support richer and more flexible retailing than traditional airline distribution formats, including offers that can be tailored more closely to customer needs.
For agencies already working inside the Amadeus environment, the practical change is that JAL’s NDC content will become available through the platform they use to shop and sell air travel. That gives the airline another channel for presenting international fares and related products while allowing participating travel sellers to access those offers without moving outside their established Amadeus workflow.
JAL has been working with Amadeus NDC technology since 2020. In its February 2020 NDC announcement, the airline outlined plans to strengthen agency distribution using the newer standard. The October 2026 launch moves that strategy into a broader Amadeus-powered sales network spanning 26 countries and regions.
JAL frames rollout as part of retailing transformation
Ross Leggett, Senior Managing Executive Officer at Japan Airlines, said the connection will allow JAL Group flight tickets to reach customers worldwide through NDC via the Amadeus Travel Platform. He positioned the project as part of the airline’s wider effort to adopt new technology and modernise travel retailing.
For Amadeus, the agreement adds another airline’s NDC content to a platform used by travel sellers across multiple markets. Javier Laforgue, Executive Vice President, Travel Unit and Managing Director of APAC at Amadeus, said the collaboration supports JAL’s retailing ambitions and is intended to scale more customer-focused airline offers through agency channels.
The two companies have also created a dedicated JAL NDC website for connection information and updates. That site is expected to serve as the reference point for agencies as availability expands market by market.
A phased international launch
The split between the October 1 Japanese launch and the October 13 overseas start gives agencies in JAL’s home market the first access before the programme broadens internationally. JAL has not presented the rollout as replacing all legacy distribution immediately; instead, it is adding NDC as an expanded sales channel through Amadeus.
For travel agencies, corporate travel sellers and other intermediaries, the significance lies less in a new passenger-facing booking channel than in the infrastructure behind the sale. The rollout increases the number of markets where agencies can access JAL’s newer retailing content through a major global travel platform, while giving the airline more flexibility in how international products and ancillary services are distributed.
