Going Mobile: Airlines Adapt with Apps and Optimized Booking Websites
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APEX Insight: As UATP’s Airline Distribution conference kicks off, we examine how airlines are addressing the challenges, and the opportunities, presented by the onslaught of increased mobile usage by prospective passengers.
There’s an app for that. Actually, there’s an app for just about everything, with an astounding 4 million available for smartphone users. The trick for marketers is to have a product, service and associated app get noticed – and be used.
Mobile search will soon account for 30-50 percent of search traffic to airlines’ branded websites, according to the 2016 Airline Marketing Outlook by EveryMundo, which has provided the travel industry with solutions for optimizing the direct online booking channel for over 10 years. “Airlines have to become more nimble when addressing their customers’ mobile experience,” says Anton Diego, EveryMundo founder and CEO. “If they don’t invest in evolving their mobile (direct) channel, they’re going to truly lose the battle.”
That battle is on for passengers’ eyes and thumbs. Online travel agencies (OTAs) and metasearch engines (MSEs) are continuing to enhance their products, adding new features and combining “big data” in ways never before considered in the airline industry. In response, airlines have been enhancing their websites and apps, adding features and streamlining designs to improve the user experience. According to Flexponsive, 87% of the world’s leading airlines have an optimized mobile booking site.
According to Flexponsive, 87% of the world’s leading airlines have an optimized mobile booking site.
Air France has created a new universal app for all platforms, giving a passenger the ability to “organize [his or her] trip in just a few clicks,” from ticket purchase to boarding. Southwest Airlines recently launched an all-new app, providing users with a faster and more streamlined mobile experience, according to LeighAnn Davis, senior director of Digital Marketing. “New features such as express checkout make booking Southwest’s low fares even easier for our most frequent customers,” says Davis. United Airlines’ app allows passengers to purchase tickets, check-in and scan their passports with their smartphone, thereby streamlining the immigration process.
“New features such as express checkout make booking Southwest’s low fares even easier for our most frequent customers.” – LeighAnn Davis, senior director of Digital Marketing, Southwest Airlines
But EveryMundo president Seth Cassel doesn’t believe that airlines are keeping up with the OTAs. “More generally, across the entire customer experience, regardless of device, there’s consistent innovation in the OTA system that’s missing from airlines’ direct channels. And ultimately, that puts increased pricing pressure on individual airlines,” he says.
Airlines aren’t only competing with OTAs – they have to make their apps compelling enough to fight “app fatigue.” As the market becomes saturated with apps, will airlines turn to text messaging to reach customers?