In the news: IT investments by China’s airports and airlines, report on worldwide airline ancillary revenue in 2018, live chat channel for hotels
Aviation: China’s airports and airlines are increasing investment in IT with cybersecurity the top priority
Investment in IT by China’s airports to manage growing number of passengers. (Image credit: gyn9038/iStock-Getty Images)
China’s aviation industry is expanding very fast, and over the past year the number of airline passengers in the country went up by nearly 13% to more than one billion.
To manage the escalating passenger numbers, as well as equip new airports and terminals, Chinese airports are increasingly investing in technology, from 5.6% of revenues in 2017 to 7.5% in 2018 – higher than the global average of 5.69%.
Airlines in China are also joining the airports in boosting IT investment, and both are putting cybersecurity on the top of the agenda, revealed the SITA 2018 Air Transport IT Insights for China.
“An impressive 94% of airlines and airports are planning major cybersecurity programmes or R&D over the next three years,” stated the report. For this year airlines plan to spend 7% of their IT budget on cybersecurity, while airports are forecast to spend 18% of theirs.
SITA analysed nine different areas of cybersecurity, measuring the rate of implementation, and noted that both airlines and airports in China are ahead of their counterparts across the globe with higher rates in all nine areas. This shows the commitment to, and recognition of the importance of, cybersecurity by the air transport industry in China, it noted.
“Digitisation is top of mind for both airlines and airports in China. Our research shows that 100% of airlines and 95% of airports have digital transformation already in place, under implementation, or planned. With this strategy it is encouraging to see the importance the industry has placed on cybersecurity. It is vital that both go hand in hand,” said May Zhou, SITA’s vice president & general manager, East Asia.
Baggage management is another key investment in China. By 2019, 100% of airlines plan to have more than 50% of their route network compliant with the IATA 753 Resolution. Effective since June 1, the resolution is intended to encourage airlines to further reduce mishandling by tracking baggage at every point of the journey.
By the end of 2021, 100% of China’s airports will have two of the four steps tracked – the make-up area and loading stages. In addition, 94% of them will have transfer and arrival tracking also in place. This level of investment is far ahead of the rest of the world.
Zhou added that with the commitment by airlines and airports in China to improve baggage management the country “is set to lead the world on efficiently managing this process, reducing costs and improving the passenger baggage experience.”
The 2018 survey covered 70% of airports and 64% of airlines in China. Download the report here.
Report: Global airline ancillary revenue is forecast to reach US$93 billion in 2018
Rising ancillary revenue for airlines this year (Image credit:tostphoto/iStock-Getty Images )
IdeaWorksCompany and CarTrawler project airline ancillary revenue will reach $92.9 billion worldwide this year in its latest report.
The CarTrawler Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue represents a 312% increase from the 2010 figure of US$22.6 billion, which was the first annual ancillary revenue estimate. The global estimate for 2018 represents a 13% increase above 2017, with US$64.8 billion of the total consisting of a la carte fee activity (see chart below).
“Nearly US$93 billion in revenue indicates that good merchandisers are selling products desired by a vast number of customers,” said Aileen McCormack, chief commercial officer at CarTrawler.
“IATA estimates more than 4.3 billion travellers will depart on flights in 2018. Most of them now have the choice of paying a little extra for more comfort and convenience – thus providing airlines with a golden opportunity to build and strengthen their customer experience in the long-term”
Earlier this year, CarTrawler and IdeaWorksCompany reported the ancillary revenue disclosed by 73 airlines for 2017. These statistics were applied to a larger list of 175 airlines to provide a truly global projection of ancillary revenue activity by the world’s airlines for 2018.
• For more information and to read the full 5-page report, click this link.
Technology: TrustYou introduces live chat to hotels
Live chat on a hotel website
Guest feedback platform TrustYou has launched a new live chat channel, which is part of its Guest Messaging tool, in response to the increasing demand for instant real-time service requests from travellers before and during their stay.
The solution acts as a booking channel for website visitors with real time response to booking queries, an on-site communication channel for guests to get informed and resolve issues, and an internal task manager to optimise staff operations by seamlessly turning requests into assigned tasks.
The easy-to-integrate live chat does not require a complex or expensive setup, or extensive training for the hotel staff. All incoming messages are displayed and can be handled within the same inbox used for email, SMS, and social messenger. Implementation is complete by copying a few single lines of code on the hotel website. It also works with major PMS (property management system) platforms.
Benjamin Jost, CEO of TrustYou, said live chat enables hotels to speak to travellers/guests, and help turn lookers into bookers as “being able to connect with a member of the hotel staff and getting all the desired information in real time decreases the chances of browsing other websites and increases direct bookings and thus revenue.”
He added that with enhanced customer service, hotels could get more positive reviews.
• Featured image (Beijing International Airport) credit: chuyu/iStock-Getty Images
