The company has been setting up offices and recruiting key personnel over the last few months.

“We’re very excited about this move,” said Ewan Gray, newly appointed Regional Director for Asia Pacific. “We’re seeing exceptionally strong growth in these markets which has largely been organic to date – in countries such as Singapore, China, Indonesia, Japan, India and Malaysia, we’re already seeing yearly increases in traffic of up to 90%.

“However, the huge scale of these markets, combined with their sophistication and speed of growth presents a particular set of technical and business challenges and very specific customer requirements.

“While online travel companies find internationalisation tough, we’re confident about the scalability of our business model. Skyscanner was designed from the outset to perform well at a global level – building comprehensive flight coverage through direct airline connections, as well as solving language and currency issues.”

The fast pace of international expansion accounts for the majority of Skyscanner’s growth in the last three years, fuelled by highly profitable core markets and a rapidly expanding network of direct commercial partnerships with airlines, online travel agents and other travel companies throughout the world.

In his former role as Head of Sales at Skyscanner, Gray has played a large part in driving that growth. “The relationships we have with airlines and OTAs are incredibly important to us and are founded on sending them highly qualified referrals from customers confident they have found the best flight deal available. We’re looking forward to providing this region with dedicated support to capitalise on its potential, building our position as one of the world’s leading travel search sites.”

In addition to Gray, other key appointments for the new Singapore operation have been made, including Yi Bao, formerly a member of the core team at travel start-up Zoombu, acquired by Skyscanner at the end of 2010. Yi Bao is taking up the role of Market Development Manager for China.

Recruitment is underway for other key market development roles.

Meanwhile, Version 2 of Skyscanner’s popular ‘All flights, everywhere’ flight search app is available to download for free on iPhone from June 25.

Version 1 of the app was launched in February this year and generated over a million downloads in the first five weeks. Reaching the #1 ranking in the travel apps section of the iTunes app store, it proved so popular with iPhone users, it was featured in Apple’s TV advertising campaign.

The new version of the app, which compares millions of routes in seconds, brings even more powerful features of the Skyscanner website to iPhone users.

Barry Smith, Skyscanner Director of Mobile commented: “Version 2 of the Skyscanner iPhone app replicates the best functionality that our customers love on the main skyscanner.net site.

“When customers are on the move, time is a key factor. The new app allows customers to find the best flights in seconds – saving both time and money. It’s indispensible for savvy travellers keen to search for flights on the go, and we anticipate a huge demand.”

Version 2 of the Skyscanner app brings the full flexibility enjoyed on the website, allowing customers to find flights from a specific airport, a city or even a whole country. Those just looking for bargain prices can get inspired by searching to ‘everywhere’ giving a list of the cheapest flights from their nearest airports.

Those flexible on when they travel can view the lowest fares across a week, a month or even the whole year with the handy ‘chart’ view, ensuring they find the best deals.

Filters can be applied to search results allowing customers to view flight options for specific airlines, at specific times or simply by price.

Once a flight is found, customers can email details to themselves to book later, share them with friends or go ahead and book directly with the relevant airline or travel agent straight away.

As with the original version and the website, the new Skyscanner app will be available in 23 languages including Japanese, Russian, French and Spanish.