BOOKINGS TECHNOLOGY
RYANAIR WANTS TO BE ‘AMAZON OF TRAVEL’
RYANAIR WANTS ITS NEW WEBSITE TO BECOME THE “AMAZON OF TRAVEL” by offering hotel rooms, price comparison and discounted concert tickets. Michael O’Leary said he wants to disrupt the industry and put a squeeze on third- party sites such as Skyscanner, Google flights and
Booking.com. Ryanair’s website and mobile app are currently being redeveloped as it seeks more direct traffic and lower dependency on sales through comparison sites. Speaking to Reuters, O’Leary said:
CROWNE PLAZA LAUNCHES ‘ROBOT ROOM SERVICE’
INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP HAS LAUNCHED a ‘delivery robot’ at the Crowne Plaza San Jose-Silicon Valley hotel. The robot, called Dash, will deliver snacks, toothbrushes and other amenities to rooms. Approximately 3ft tall and weighing less than 100 pounds, it is designed to travel at walking pace and can navigate between floors and call the elevator using a wifi connection. When Dash arrives at the room, it phones the guest to announce its arrival, delivers the requested items, and makes its way back to the front desk where it can dock itself into its own charging station. The robot was created by Californian tech company Savioke.
AIRFARES
Lufthansa and Austrian complete Amadeus fare integration
LUFTHANSA AND AUSTRIAN HAVE JOINED SWISS AND BRUSSELS AIRLINES to complete Lufthansa Group’s (LHG) implementation of Amadeus Fare Families for distribution of new branded fares across all channels. Amadeus booking agents will now be able to book Lufthansa’s and Austrian’s new light, classic and flex fares for flights departing from October 1. LHG said this move will allow it
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
to increase multichannel merchandising opportunities and “maximise exposure to travellers”. By branding and separating products and services, LHG said it will be able to show the full value of each fare family and offer greater transparency on product characteristics, as well as terms and conditions. ¢ Interview, Amadeus UK MD Champa Magesh, p10
“We need to be careful... we are very wary not to allow Google to become the avenue by which we sell 50, 60, 80 per cent of our tickets.” “We want to become the Amazon. com of travel in Europe, with a whole load of additional services: price comparison, cut-rate hotels, discounted football tickets, concert tickets. “We want to be the disruptor that goes out and disrupts the original disruptors,” he added.
AIRPORTS
Investment for Liverpool airport expansion
LIVERPOOL JOHN LENNON AIRPORT (LJLA) has announced a major investment programme over the next five years after owners, the Peel Group, agreed a deal with lenders. The parent company of the north- west gateway said the arrangement will “further support the strong operational performance” of LJLA. There will be a reduction in the
airport’s debt as well as funding to improve terminal buildings and expansion of facilities in line with future passenger and airline growth. LJLA has seen passenger numbers rise 6 per cent for the first half of 2015 compared to the same period last year. For the financial year 2013/14 it made an operating profit of £2.4 million.
BBT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015 9
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