A key session at the recent co-located APEX FTE EMEA and Ancillary & Retailing events focused on ‘Advanced approaches to Modern Airline Retailing and Offer & Order management’. Moderator Eric Léopold, Founder, Threedot, and APEX FTE Ancillary & Retailing Content Director, opened with a presentation on the ‘State of Airline Retailing’. He emphasised that Modern Airline Retailing is about value creation through new processes and systems, and the most advanced airlines have started the final stage of the transformation. Dr Jost Daft, Head of Order Transformation, Lufthansa Group, shared how Offers & Orders enable the foundation that airline retailing needs. He explained that transformation starts with clarity, collaboration and commitment, while true transformation only happens when the whole ecosystem moves. Tiddo Veldhuis, VP Offer Management & Ancillaries, highlighted the evolution of the Air France-KLM offer, moving towards multiple offers. The future offer will transformation orchestration to become an airline retailer. Watch the full video and read the full article below. Meanwhile, you can read our comprehensive report on the co-located APEX FTE EMEA and Ancillary & Retailing events here.
Save the date for APEX FTE EMEA & Ancillary & Retailing 2026 – Dublin, 9 to 11 June 2026
We’re excited to announce that APEX FTE EMEA and Ancillary & Retailing will return to Dublin on 9 to 11 June 2026. Mark your calendar today and join us in Dublin next summer as we continue to shape the future of the airline/airport industry across EMEA and beyond.
Framing Modern Airline Retailing
Eric Léopold, Founder, Threedot, and APEX FTE Ancillary & Retailing Content Director, kicked things off by defining “modern retailing”. It’s not just distribution – it’s value creation through enhanced experiences, underpinned by re-engineered processes and systems. Airlines now issue tailored “offers” and manage “orders” through APIs (e.g. via IATA’s NDC standard). But value comes only after legacy tools – like PNRs, EDIFACT messaging, paper PNRs – are retired.
Key insights from Léopold:
- “Retailing is about value creation… we just want to provide the best customer experience.”
- The biggest challenge: moving beyond legacy systems by around 2030 to unlock full potential.
Common pitfalls include:
- Delaying benefits until end-game – instead, build early value and track consistently.
- Over-focusing on OSD (Offers, Settlements, Delivery) – true retail modernisation requires total process and customer focus.
- Ignoring data and openness – modular systems must allow full access to customer data for AI-driven insights and personalisation.
Lufthansa Group’s Order Transformation
Dr Jost Daft, Head of Order Transformation, Lufthansa Group, reflected on the industry’s roots in 1960s e-commerce tech and EDIFACT messaging. Though airline UIs may look digital, back-end systems still rely on paper and manual rebooking processes during disruptions.
Daft emphasised that this isn’t just an IT overhaul – it’s a wholesale transformation of end-to-end process, across commercial, operational, airports, revenue accounting, and more. Success requires deep internal collaboration and ecosystem-wide interoperability, including ground handlers and IT providers.
Notable quotes from Daft:
- “It was not meant to be an e‑commerce system… processes today are not meeting the demands of our customers anymore.”
- “This is a transformation of end‑to‑end processes… it’s not an IT program.”
- “We want to be legacy‑free by 2031,” aiming to fully move off EDIFACT and monolithic PSS.
He also highlighted Lufthansa’s founding role in a consortium accelerating industry-wide adoption of common standards – essential to ensuring interoperability and cohesive transformation.
Air France-KLM’s modular retail journey
Tiddo Veldhuis, VP Offer Management & Ancillaries, shared how Air France-KLM has evolved its retail journey over ten years – starting with product launches (seat selection, baggage, meals) and continuing today in modular product orchestration and data analytics.
He described challenges in legacy environments and the importance of A/B testing to refine offer presentation, pricing, and bundling. Small pilots – like buy-onboard and seat selection – provide real-world learning, informing longer-term transformations.
Highlights from Veldhuis:
- “When a customer has a preference for seating, you should make it easy to get that seat… it’s a service.”
- “We started to understand customer behaviour: which seats are preferred, who’s choosing them, what they’re willing to pay.”
- “We do intensive A/B testing… on offering, price – and every week we learn new things about our customers.”
He noted the complexity of product combinatorics – 10 modules can produce over 1,000 offer variations. Channel orchestration – direct, NDC-enabled indirect, in-app, at airport – is another evolving frontier.
Moving forward together
Modern Airline Retailing isn’t simply a tech project – it’s a strategic transformation of how airlines design, distribute, manage, and monetise offers. With agreements to adopt unified standards like NDC and unified industry pace-setting around a 2030-2031 legacy sunset, this session underscored the urgent need to balance near-term innovation with long-term modernisation. The path to a truly customer-centric, data-powered retail model requires continuous execution – both within airlines and across the broader air travel ecosystem.
What’s next – FTE Global, LA, 9 to 11 September 2025, and APEX FTE Asia Expo, Singapore, 11 to 12 November 2025
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