Mobile services are the main IT investment priority for airlines, a new survey has revealed.
According to SITA’s Airline IT Trends Survey 2012, 93% of airlines choose mobile as their top IT investment over the next three years, with 58% investing in major programmes.
The survey, which represents the views of more than half of the world’s top 100 carriers, found that airlines are focusing IT investment in all areas of their business, including improving passenger service, reducing the cost of business operations and revenue generation. Mobile services for passengers top the lists, with half of airlines already selling tickets via mobile devices and 89% planning to do so by 2015.
This means that within three years, almost nine out of 10 airlines expect to offer flight search, check-in, boarding passes, ticket purchase, flight status notification and ancillary services via mobile devices.
Half of the airlines have already implemented mobile services for flight search and check-in with close to half also providing boarding passes, ticket purchase and flight status notifications.
“This year’s survey shows how airlines are committed to mobile across the whole business. Mobile apps are being used to improve the passenger experience, reduce operating costs and generate revenue. This is the second year that mobile services for passengers tops the list of investment programmes and it is the adoption of mobile apps across sales, customer services and passenger processing that truly shows that airlines are committed to transformation,” said Francesco Violante, CEO of SITA.
Nine out of 10 airlines are also planning to invest in social media over the next three years. According to the report, 57% of airlines believe social media can play a significant role in promoting sales with 39% stressing its value in customer service. Four out of 10 already promote flights via social media, and almost 90% plan to do so by 2015.
Both social media and mobile open the door for a more personalised service, and 78% of airlines in this year’s survey already have, or plan to, personalise sales offerings via their direct channels.
