Airline Disintermediation Threat to TravelPerk

The real risk is margin compression, not sudden disappearance. TravelPerk still adds value by putting flights, hotels, policy controls, approvals, invoicing, and support in one workflow, but airlines are steadily pulling the most valuable air content into direct pipes they control. That means TravelPerk has to keep winning and maintaining airline connections just to preserve fare access and servicing quality, while airlines keep more leverage over economics and inventory rules.

• TravelPerk has built meaningful protection through NDC, with 20 airline connections in August 2024, rising to 25 by October 2025, and NDC content accounting for 40% of its global airline bookings in 2024. That helps it access fares and ancillaries that would otherwise drift away from older indirect channels.
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• The dependency does not go away. TravelPerk still aggregates content from GDSs, direct airline connections, hotels, rail, and ground transport, so its customer promise depends on broad inventory staying available through third party workflows rather than only on airline owned websites and apps.
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• Competitors with another profit engine are structurally safer if airline economics tighten. Navan pairs travel with expense and card products, and TravelPerk itself is moving the same direction with Yokoy. That matters because software fees, interchange, and expense automation can offset pressure on booking take rates.
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The likely endpoint is that corporate travel platforms become less like classic agents and more like software layers sitting on top of airline controlled distribution. The winners will be the ones that own approvals, payments, expense reconciliation, and traveler support strongly enough that airlines still need them, even if airlines keep pushing bookings toward direct channels.