IN-DEPTH: Services offering mobile check-in and even mobile bar-coded boarding passes are very popular as they put the customer in control, says Fergus Boyd, Acting Head of eBusiness, Virgin Atlantic Airways

Published: 27 Apr 2011

IN-DEPTH: Services offering mobile check-in and even mobile bar-coded boarding passes are very popular as they put the customer in control, says Fergus Boyd, Acting Head of eBusiness, Virgin Atlantic Airways

By Ritesh Gupta

Different players in the travel industry have taken different approaches for supporting consumers on the go.

For Virgin Atlantic, an organisation which says it’s an airline and not a software development house, it has worked on novel initiatives pertaining to its mobile strategy. Virgin’s Flight Tracker app was the first airline app to include games and an interactive globe showing the position of its fleet in a novel way.

In its initiatives Virgin conveys that it is passionate about its airline and its planes. For instance, when the airline launched its new iPhone app a few months ago it came up with a promotional film to support the initiative. The film was a comic love story, with the lead couple enjoying a romantic journey around the world, facilitated by Virgin Atlantic’s newly updated “Flight Tracker” iPhone app.

As far as the utility of mobile is concerned, service still leads the way for the airline.

“Service still leads the way on mobile. Services offering mobile check-in and even mobile bar-coded boarding passes are very popular as they put the customer in control and allow seat selection when the customer is on the move,” says Fergus Boyd, Acting Head of eBusiness, Virgin Atlantic Airways. Boyd says up-sell items such as seat upgrades, excess baggage make sense via mobile, once the main sale has been delivered via web.

Boyd, who is scheduled to speak at the forthcoming Travel Distribution Summit Europe 2011, to be held in London (May 10-11), spoke to EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta about the utility of mobile devices at this juncture. Excerpts:

How do you think the aviation industry has progressed when it comes to using mobile phones for transactions?

Fergus Boyd:

Service still leads the way on mobile. Services offering mobile check-in and even mobile barcoded boarding passes are very popular as they put the customer in control and allow seat selection when the customer is on the move.

Selling transactions on mobile are still the exception. They make sense for short haul trips where small amounts of money are involved but are less of an obvious advantage for long haul where the ticket price makes it a very considered purchase.

Also, most long haul travel involves friends, family, work colleagues and a lot of research which isn’t best delivered via mobile..

As far as the mobile activity is concerned, a section of the industry believes one should focus on driving unique experiences, which will eventually lead to channel preference. What’s your viewpoint regarding this and what is key to achieving the same?

Fergus Boyd:

The USPs of mobile includes portability, always-connected, voice. Any mobile services should make best use of these e.g. flight status is more important than looking up loyalty scheme balances. Click to call makes sense on mobile if a set of lowest fares are first displayed, but the complexity of the transaction is handled by voice.

To what extent should one go about creating a balanced push and pull strategy when it comes to making the most of mobile phones as a transaction channel? How can one ensure that consumers are inspired to buy via mobile phones rather bombarding them with messages or campaigns to create awareness about such services?

Fergus Boyd:

Build trust with the customer first via delivering reliable basic services like pushed flight alerts. If this is done then customers may be willing to opt-in to marketing messages and special offers.

A section of the industry expects the mobile channel to emerge as a significant platform for ancillary services sales as it offers the ability for to push context-sensitive offers. How do you assess this sentiment at this stage?

Fergus Boyd:

(For me it would be) low for long haul airlines. I’d rather see offers distributed via a traditional email campaign. I don’t want to be bombarded with “buy me”, “10% off your cheeseburger” type offers when in or near airports.

Mobile revenue models differ widely, from advertising-based, to app sales, to in-app purchases, or the TripAdvisor model, generating leads. These models are not one-size fits all -- each business should examine the trade-offs and choose the model that works best for them. How should one go about the same when it comes to mobile strategies?

Fergus Boyd:

Mobile revenue shouldn’t be a key part of any airline’s strategy. First comes mobile servicing. Any up-sell revenues will be a bonus. The only people making money via mobile now are telecoms companies, Apple - and not a huge amount -, and ringtones type suppliers.

Last year in October, S7 became the first airline in Russia to offer mobile booking for rail tickets. S7 Airlines introduced a new service for its passengers allowing them to buy tickets on their mobile devices for high-speed Aeroexpress trains between Moscow's Domodedovo Airport and Paveletsky Railway Station. An easy-to-use and simple interface allows the passenger to quickly buy an Aeroexpress ticket independent of the flight ticket. In the future, the airline is also planning to combine the air and train ticket purchases. How do you assess such moves from the industry perspective?

Fergus Boyd:

This is just a good ancillary sell option which helps a customer on the move so makes sense. Trying to sell non travel-related items would be seen as intrusive and unnecessary.

As mobile payment instruments (i.e. in-app purchases using iTunes or PayPal or carrier billing) continue to gather steam, there’s a huge opportunity for developers and suppliers to remove friction for travellers, and, as a result, shift a significant purchase volume from the desktop Web to mobile devices. Where do you see the biggest opportunity?

Fergus Boyd:

The big opportunity is to avoid being dependent on Apple’s or any other app store’s payment mechanism as the commission is punitive.

Best to focus on a good mobile website and bypass apps completely, or restrict apps to a small subset of good basic services that make sense to customer son the move. Click to call is the best revenue opportunity for mobile.

Travel Distribution Summit Europe 2011

EyeforTravel is scheduled to conduct its flagship event, Travel Distribution Summit Europe 2011 in London (May 10-11)..

For more information, click here

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Phone: +44 (0) 207 375 7557 (London, UK)
Email: tim@eyefortravel.com