New revenue tied up in web

New revenue tied up in web

Airports make the most of on-line profit opportunities

On the button: airports deny trying to take business from agents

AGENTS are facing a new threat to their livelihood from airports that are selling travel services direct to the public via the Internet.

Airport websites, which started out merely as sources of information for passengers, have developed into commercial tools, designed to bring in additional revenue. Passengers can now pre-book everything from train tickets to the airport, to currency, duty and tax-free goods, airport parking and access to executive lounges via some websites.

However, more worrying for agents is the move by some airports to sell flights, hotel rooms, car hire and even package holidays on-line.

Luton was one of the first to offer an on-line travel booking service. Its website has a link to telesales agent Runway Travel, which provides a booking service for package holidays and charter flights. There are also links to some of the scheduled airlines that use the airport, such as EasyJet.

Head of sales and marketing Mandy Round said: “We decided to turn our website from a cost to the business to a revenue-earning sector, which it now is.

The airport denies it is trying to do agents out of business. “The website is the type of thing people will use to book last-minute holidays,” said Round. “But people looking for specific holidays will still go to their travel agent for advice.”

Round claims that a quarter of browsers who search for holidays on the site go on to make a booking. “We are pleased with our conversion rate, but it shows that a lot of people who see holidays on our site are still going to agents to book,” she said. “Agents are still very important to us, but the website is just as important.”

BAA’s on-line business

BAA, the UK’s largest airport operator, admits to earning a six-figure sum every month from baa.co.uk, which sells flights, holidays, car hire, hotel rooms, train tickets, airport parking, currency and duty and tax-free goods on-line. The majority of this income is believed to come from car parking, currency and duty-free goods.

Manchester Airport claims its website gets 250,000 hits every day, and it is hoping to convert a high percentage of these into bookings since the launch of its on-line facility with Travelcare and telme.com last month. Even so, director of business development Bill Savage claimed agents should not see the site as a threat.

“This site just gives people an alternative to booking holidays over the phone,” he said.

Birmingham International has just launched a second website, bhx.com, on which it claims to have more than 130,000 holidays – the majority of which are departing within 12 weeks.

Bookings must be made over the phone with partner Page and Moy, but the website is currently developing an on-line booking facility for scheduled flights.

Business manager leisure Sue Lindsay admitted the site brought the airport incremental income, but she said the main reason for the launch was to prevent last-minute bookers from being sold holidays from other airports.

“We want to make sure that if people are looking for a holiday from Birmingham they are not fobbed off with a holiday from another airport,” said Lindsay.

Not all airport websites have a booking facility, but most are planning to offer this service in the future.

Belfast International is the latest to go live with an interactive website. It has links to all the scheduled airlines that operate out of the airport, enabling it to offer an on-line booking service.