Airline ancillary revenue projected to be $59.2 billion worldwide in 2015

Nov 9, 2015

Dublin, Ireland, 9 November, 2015: IdeaWorksCompany, the foremost consultancy on airline ancillary revenues, and CarTrawler, the leading online car rental and ground transportation platform, project airline ancillary revenue will reach $59.2 billion worldwide in 2015. The CarTrawler Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue represents an increase of 163% from the 2010 figure of $22.6 billion, which was the first year for the ancillary revenue estimate.

Earlier this year, CarTrawler and IdeaWorksCompany reported the ancillary revenue disclosed by 63 airlines for 2014. These statistics were applied to a larger list of 180 airlines to provide a truly global projection of ancillary revenue activity by the world’s airlines in 2015. The CarTrawler Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue marks the sixth year IdeaWorksCompany has prepared a projection of global ancillary revenue activity.

These figures show the impact that ancillary revenue has on the bottom lines of airlines, but it is also a critically important element of the customer experience. Airlines that offer a rounded, sophisticated customer experience by drawing on data science insights and the right ancillary offerings have a better chance of backing up revenues with increased loyalty and a stronger brand promise, which in turn leads to increased repeat bookings.

Michael Cunningham, Chief Commercial Officer at CarTrawler.

Revenue from optional services, such as onboard sales of food and beverages, checked baggage, premium seat assignments, and early boarding benefits, was determined to represent $36.7 billion of the projected global 2015 total. The smaller share, at $22.5 billion, comes from non-fee activity such as the sale of frequent flier miles to program partners, and commissions earned on the sale of services to travelers, such as hotel accommodations and car rentals.

About CarTrawler: CarTrawler connects business and leisure customers and online travel retailers with more road and rail transport solutions than they will find anywhere else. Over 80 international airlines and 2,000 travel retailers around the world trust CarTrawler to provide their customers with real-time access to over 1,500 leading and independent car rental agents, coach transfers, rail networks and chauffeur drive services at 30,000 locations in 174 countries. CarTrawler also owns and operates the Cabforce, Holiday Autos and Argus Car Hire brands. The company headquarters and Customer Centre of Excellence are located in Dublin, Ireland, with additional offices in Boston, London and Helsinki. CarTrawler is private equity backed by BC Partners and Insight Venture Partners. For further information, please visit www.cartrawler.com

About IdeaWorksCompany: IdeaWorksCompany was founded in 1996 as a consulting organization building brands through innovation in product, partnership and marketing, and building profits through financial improvement and restructuring. Its international client list includes airlines and other travel industry firms in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. IdeaWorksCompany specializes in ancillary revenue improvement, brand development, customer research, competitive analysis, frequent flier programs, and on-site executive workshops. Learn more at IdeaWorksCompany.com.