Airline ancillary revenue projected to be $67.4 billion worldwide in 2016

Nov 29, 2016

Dublin, Ireland 29 November, 2016: IdeaWorksCompany, the foremost consultancy on airline ancillary revenues, and CarTrawler, the leading online travel technology platform, project airline ancillary revenue will reach $67.4 billion worldwide in 2016. The CarTrawler Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue represents a nearly 200% increase 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 67 airlines for 2015. These statistics were applied to a larger list of 178 airlines to provide a truly global projection of ancillary revenue activity by the world’s airlines in 2016. The CarTrawler Worldwide Estimate of Ancillary Revenue marks the seventh year IdeaWorksCompany has prepared a projection of ancillary revenue activity.

Successful ancillary revenue generation is dependent on offering customers the right product at the right time, often before they have even asked for it. Amazon has proven to great effect the positive impact that data science has had on its business with an estimated one third of total sales now coming via their recommendation algorithm. As with Amazon, the unlocking of data-driven insights is enabling airlines to propose ancillary products and services to their customers in an increasingly sophisticated way. This application of data is fueling the continued growth of the sector while at the same time unearthing further potential for building loyalty by identifying when, how, where and what to offer customers when they visit your website or app.

Aileen O’Mahony, 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 $44.9 billion of the projected global 2016 total. The smaller share, at $22.5 billion, comes from non-fee activity such as the sale of frequent flyer miles to program partners, and commissions earned on the sale of ground-based 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. 95 international airlines and 2,000 travel retailers around the world trust CarTrawler to provide their customers with real-time access to over 1,600 leading and independent car rental agents, coach transfers, rail networks and chauffeur drive services at 43,000 locations in 195 countries. Its in-house booking engine gives it the opportunity to easily and quickly scale to accommodate customer demand. CarTrawler also owns and operates the Cabforce, Holiday Autos and arguscarhire.com 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: The IdeaWorksCompany was founded in 1996 as a consulting organization building airline revenue through innovation in ancillary revenue, loyalty marketing, and a la carte shopping. 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 flyer programs, and on-site executive workshops. Learn more at IdeaWorksCompany.com.

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