The bottom lines of airlines worldwide will see an upward push this year from ancillary sales, as their revenue is forecast to increase 18.8% above 2014 to US$59.2 billion worldwide in 2015.
Onboard sales of food and beverages a main contributor to ancillary revenue. (Image credit: Kondor83/iStock)
The projection from the CarTrawler Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue states that US$36.7 billion is from optional services such as onboard sales of food and beverages, checked baggage, premium seat assignments, and early boarding.
The smaller share, at $22.5 billion, comes from non-fee activity such as the sale of frequent flier miles to programme partners, and commissions earned on the sale of services to travellers, such as hotel accommodations and car rentals.
The report is prepared by CarTrawler, the leading online car rental and ground transportation platform, and IdeaWorksCompany, consultancy on airline ancillary revenues.
Earlier this year, the two companies reported the ancillary revenue disclosed by 63 airlines for 2014. These statistics were applied to a larger list of 180 airlines to provide a truly global projection of ancillary revenue activity by the world’s airlines in 2015.
“These figures show the impact that ancillary revenue has on the bottom lines of airlines, but it is also a critically important element of the customer experience,” said Michael Cunningham, chief commercial officer at CarTrawler.
“Airlines that offer a rounded, sophisticated customer experience by drawing on data science insights and the right ancillary offerings have a better chance of backing up revenues with increased loyalty and a stronger brand promise, which in turn leads to increased repeat bookings.”
