Airbus and Routehappy Launch Merchandising Partnership
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APEX Insight: The merchandising partnership between Airbus and Routehappy helps to raise consumer awareness of the experience on board Airbus aircraft, while offering a browsing experience more closely resembling other online shopping channels.
After launching an industry-first collaboration at ITB Berlin in March, Airbus and Routehappy announced yesterday at IATA’s Annual General Meeting, that their merchandising partnership is now live. Airbus-branded experiential metrics now appear on Travix’s CheapTickets websites in European and Asian markets and on Webjet in Australia when consumers search for flights with participating carriers and Airbus customers Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.
The Airbus-branded UPAs (Universal Product Attributes) highlight features of Airbus A380 and A350 aircraft, such as wider seat width available, increased personal space, advanced in-flight entertainment systems, in-flight connectivity and jet lag mitigating ambient lighting. These appear alongside each airline’s unique UPAs to help differentiate product attributes by aircraft type for more targeted merchandising.
“We are excited that the Airbus branded content from our alliance with Routehappy is now live, and we look forward to seeing our customers showcasing the unique Airbus offerings to the flying public,” said Airbus’ head of Market and Product Strategy, Bob Lange. “Differentiation is a game-changer for leading airlines who can enhance the promotion of their products in a highly competitive market as well as for passengers who can make more conscious and smarter choices when buying flight tickets.”
This May, Routehappy revealed the results of A/B market tests conducted with Webjet, Australia’s largest online travel agency (OTA), which showed that consumers were 26.3 percent more likely to book tickets with an airline when the standard flight details were paired with Routehappy UPAs and Routehappy Hub content.
“There are other companies looking at the branded UPA concept.” €” Jonathan Savitch, Routehappy
Speaking with APEX Media at IATA’s Annual General Meeting in Cancun, Routehappy VP of Business Development Jonathan Savitch said Routehappy’s metric merchandising is set to grow: “There are other companies looking at the branded UPA concept and thinking of how they can make use of that. That includes other aircraft manufacturers and other providers who want to get messages across to consumers.”
Airbus branded UPAs will also be featured in other sales channels, in the coming months, including on the new Sabre Red Workspace.