Future of airline tickets in hands of carriers
Airline carrying the bulk of the world’s air traffic are on course to sell the majority of airline tickets direct to passengers by 2013, according to the annual SITA/Airline Business IT Trends Survey.
The record 129 airlines who responded to this year’s survey carry over one billion passengers and are currently selling 40.8 percent of tickets directly to the public which breaks down as: over the internet, 25.8 percent; through call centres, 10.7 percent; and interlining, 4.3 percent.
These 129 airlines intend to bring their level of direct sales up to 55.1 percent by 2013. While sales through airline call centres and interlining will remain largely static, direct channel sales through websites are expected to jump to 37.9 percent.
Said Francesco Violante, SITA CEO:
“This year’s survey tells us there is a climate of increasing business confidence. Airlines are investing in IT to provide richer functionality to their online customers and creating additional channels to market in order to increase the level of direct sales now that online distribution is almost universal.”
In order to increase online sales, airlines are prioritizing the implementation of new functionality on their web sites in the following ways: online shopping tools (61 percent have already implemented this); change/cancel/rebook (52 percent); and frequent flyer redemption functionality (51 percent).
“This is in line with overall airline strategy to migrate passengers to self-service including a multi-channel check-in environment. The airlines stated ambition is to reduce the number of passengers processed via agent check-in from 50.7 percent to 28.9 percent by 2013,” according to SITA.
Kiosk check-in is expected to remain static at just below 20 percent while web check-in options will grow from 21.6 percent today to 35.5 percent in 2013, and mobile check-in will advance from 28 percent today to 70 percent by 2013.
“Although the proportion of passengers using check-in kiosks remains static, the survey confirms the important role of kiosks in a multi-channel environment,” the study found. Almost half of airlines plan to increase the number of kiosks they deploy as they gradually move towards the next step of adoption by adding new functionality for flight transfers and disruption management.
The mobile phone will become an essential tool for airline travel by 2013 with 86 percent of airlines planning to offer flight notifications; 80 percent, online check-in; 76 percent, send electronic boarding passes to mobiles; and 68 percent using the mobile phone to target passengers with travel offers.
“Airlines are becoming increasingly adept at upselling, using fare families and marketing types; unbundling fares, by charging for services such as meals and baggage management; and selling non-air services such as hotels, car hire and insurance,” the report found.
By David Wilkening
David
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