Skyscanner now participates directly in its own marketplace, as a merchant selling flights. Alongside its core metasearch proposition, the new booking service is available on app and mobile web to date only in Australia, Singapore and the UK.
Bryan Dove, Chief Executive, Skyscanner, said: “It’s not a secret that people are increasingly turning to their mobile devices to plan their travel. Yet, the travel industry hasn’t been meeting their expectations. While most travellers start their planning on a phone – for Skyscanner, mobile traffic is 65% globally and exceeds 80% in some regions – the majority still switch to a computer to complete their booking.
“It isn’t what travellers want, and this doesn’t meet the needs of the next wave of travellers, who rightly demand to be able to do everything from their phone.
“We have always focused on doing what’s right for the traveller. Travellers have been asking us to combine our global selection and great prices with the mobile convenience they expect. Now, we are able to address this need. It’s early days, but we have seen fantastic results with our new flight booking service.
“Travellers who make their first booking with Skyscanner show a 52% increased repeat booking rate versus the mobile average for partners, a higher conversion rate and a higher provider selection rate.”
Skyscanner’s own flight booking service leverages the brand’s significant mobile footprint and loyal user base for partners: 100 million people use Skyscanner every month.
The new offering also removes the high cost of localised customer care for partners, with Skyscanner providing 24/7 customer service, taking full responsibility for ticketing issues, and trialling extras such as a flight disruption service. A self-serve cancellation functionality is planned in the future.
Partners to the new flight booking product include Ctrip, JetMax and CheckMyFares, with three further names expected to be added by the end of the year.
