ANA lets you book directly on Google Flights

I have been using Google Flights for quite a while (well, in pre-pandemic times at least!) as a tool to find the best ticket options for my travels (the other tool I highly recommend for this is Trabber!)

Yes, I know, we risk Google (and by extension, all the other major internet giants) becoming an hegemon ALSO in travel. But, hey, the search engine, and the richness of information it provides to would-be travellers, is pretty good.

But, so far, Google has refrained from taking an active role in the flight booking scene, preferring rather to re-direct users to the websites of airlines and OTAs.

But All Nippon Airways (ANA), a Japanese airline that has made a point in recent years of its commitment to technology, has just announced that you are now able to book flights directly on Google.

It is the first instance I am aware of, of an airline enabling this. If you know of other cases, please, do not hesitate to write to me with the details!

No need to leave Google, you can book your ANA plane ticket here

The technical work to make this possible, which apparently makes use of IATA’s NDC standards, is Travelfusion, a London-based firm that designs digital distribution solutions for the travel industry.

(Btw, for more on NDC and what it means for airline distribution, check this podcast I did with Jorge Díaz, founder and CEO of NDC-focused startup AirGateway!)

And, while I am not privy to the sort of processes that take place behind the scenes, I find this to be quite an interesting development. While not really a super-app in the way some Chinese and Asian platforms area, there is so many people that use Google for all sort of things that booking flights direct would be just a natural step, and this would have implications for the OTA, GDS and overall distribution landscape.