What is an airline order, and how does ARC settle it?

On October 27, ARC added payment cards to ARC Connex Orders, its system for settling airline orders. A day later, IATA said seven airlines are live or implementing orders, with more than 20 expected to follow from 2027. Orders will reach most agencies slowly, and they change the reference your accounting runs on. Here is what an order is and how to get ready.

What is an airline order?

One record for everything a traveler bought from an airline. Today a trip sits in several places: the booking record, or PNR, the e-ticket and an EMD for each paid extra. An order pulls them into a single record with one reference, the Order ID.

The standard behind it is IATA's ONE Order, set out in Resolution 797 in June 2017. IATA says it will gradually phase out today's booking and ticket records. The reason is reconciliation: airlines and sellers spend time matching references that describe the same trip.

How is an order different from NDC?

They cover two halves of the sale. NDC is the standard an airline uses to send its offers to your agency, with its own fares and extras. Orders covers what happens once the traveler buys, from the record of the sale to its accounting.

An NDC booking today still ends in a ticket number, and it settles through ARC next to GDS sales. In September 2026, NDC made up 21.2 percent of ARC-settled transactions. Orders is the next step. IATA calls offers and orders the foundation of its retailing plan.

How does ARC settle orders today?

Through ARC Connex Orders, built in two releases so far:

• January 27, 2026. ARC launched orders-based reporting and settlement for orders paid in cash. ARC describes it as the industry's first.
• October 27, 2026. The second release added orders paid by payment card, which ARC defines as debit and credit cards plus charge cards. Airlines can report orders that mix cash and card, and ARC settles the commission on them.

The engine works differently underneath. ARC's ticket settlement runs on ticket numbers and EMDs. The orders platform keys each record to an Order ID, and ARC built it alongside the existing system, according to Travel Distribution News. ARC says it will keep settling GDS EDIFACT and NDC transactions next to orders.

Which airlines use orders?

A small group so far. IATA counts seven airlines live or implementing orders, and expects more than 20 more from 2027. ARC's releases leave the airlines and agencies on ARC Connex Orders unnamed.

That's the honest state of play: the settlement side is ready ahead of most airlines. Ask the carriers you book most whether they plan to sell to agencies as orders, and when.

What changes for an agency's week?

The reference changes first. Your accounting system, your IAR checks and your debit memo files all lean on the ticket number. With orders, the Order ID becomes the key, and one order can hold flights and extras that used to sit on separate documents.

ARC's releases leave open how orders will show in IAR and the weekly report, and what agencies need to do to take part. We'd treat that as the first question for your ARC contact. IATA adds a point worth repeating: the accounting work should be designed into orders from the start, so the complexity goes away for good.

How do you get ready?

1. List where ticket numbers drive your work. The weekly ARC match usually tops the list. Refunds and credit tracking come next.
2. Make room for an Order ID. Check that your accounting system and client records can store one beside the ticket number.
3. Ask your top airlines. Find out who plans orders for agencies in 2027 and what servicing looks like on day one.
4. Ask ARC how orders will report. Get the answer before your first order lands in the weekly close.
5. Run both side by side. Tickets will stay for years, so plan a week where tickets and orders close together.

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