From apps to maps, wearable devices to Wifi, mobile in the air travel space may be maturing but there is business to be done

In the highly commoditised air travel environment, how do you differentiate? With a mobile device it would seem:

• Nearly 64% of air travel executives believe mobile has improved customer engagement
• Over 50% say mobile has generated direct bookings
• 69.2% of consumers are comfortable using a variety of devices to research travel
• 70.1% take a smartphone or tablet on their trip
• 47.1% use data roaming while abroad

EyeforTravel Mobile in Air Travel 2014

And those stats are just for starters!

Although half the executives surveyed still believe their website will yield the biggest growth in bookings, over 37% believe growth will come from either smartphones or tablets.

There is plenty of opportunity to be had, as consumers are definitely open to being offered deals or information via email. Given that 70% of customers now travel with a smart phone or tablet it’s simply a no-brainer not to grasp this opportunity.

Companies offering mobile technologies will be pleased to know that executives in air travel are still confused about the differences between responsive, adaptive and optimised mobile web - so there are opportunities here to educate.

WiFi and wearables

WiFi providers could also be in for boost too. Our research finds that mobile web is most suited to customer use when WiFi is plentiful. Moreover, WiFi is increasingly required in terminals and on aircraft and in an ideal world it should be free and unlimited.

When it comes to apps, airports find it harder to get customers to engage. So the big question is this: is there a solution for airports? App developers get your thinking caps on!

Luckily for airlines though, they find it easier to segment their customer base. To date one-fifth of travellers have an air travel app with boarding cards, mobile check-in and ticketing being popular app functions. Wearables too have the potential to speed up queues at security and immigration but this will require collaboration between government as well as private enterprise. Spot another opportunity?

Location is a big issue too and mapping technologies will prove important to the customer experience. Did you know that airports are considering or have already opened up their APIs to partners to improve passenger transit?

To the big question around ROI, it may be that profits come from more subtle sources, such as the business efficiencies resulting from, for example, smoother check in processes.

Another big opportunity: mobile payment

Most are still adopting a wait-and-see approach due to the wide variety of payment applications available today but that is likely to change if privacy concerns can be allayed. Good news is that while consumers will be slow to adopt mobile payments technologies until they find traditional methods too difficult,

• 41.3% of customers are still happy to use credit cards via mobile, and
• PayPal is increasingly used as a digital payment method of choice for air travel brands

Still not convinced? Download the Mobile in Air Travel 2014 report, the second in a three part series. Also see Mobile in Hospitality 2014 and Mobile in the Online Travel Agency and Metasearch Industry