We’ve Built a Unified Airline Platform for SunExpress

We’ve built a unified airline platform for SunExpress

Thanks to decades-old experience and robust foundations, the airline industry is back on track after the decline that came with the pandemic. Although the pandemic is still in our lives, new safety regulations have put passengers back in seats. The industry may have reacted cleverly to the unexpected fall in demand and turned things around, but they are still in a competitive area and the airlines which succeed to meet the demands of the new generations of passengers are here to stay. Our airline partner, SunExpress, is an excellent example of how to generate more revenue while giving passengers a better experience. In this article, we are going to tell you about the omnichannel airline platform that we have built for the IATA member airline SunExpress, while sharing some information on new trends in the airline industry. 

The future is in ancillary sales for airlines

The biggest competition in the airline industry is, of course, the ticket prices, and that makes it more and more challenging for small companies to grow their revenue. Thankfully, there is a new player in the game of revenue growth, and that is ancillary products. According to Business Traveller’s research in 2018, 10% of the income is generated by ancillary product sales, and the number follows a rising trend. For example, AirAsia’s ancillary revenue increased by 7% in 2018 and made up 22% of its total revenue. You can see how ancillary is becoming an industry by itself by looking at the chart below. 

Considering this information, we have built our Airline Platform to include ancillary sales in the process and we have built Sunexpress’s unified platform with ancillary features. During the ticket buying process, passengers can choose to buy extra luggage options, in-flight meals, and even what they want to watch during their flights, all on the same platform. Ultimately, the feature enhances passenger experience while generating more revenue for the airline. 

An integrated loyalty program that focuses on data analysis

Loyalty programs have always been essential in the travel industry, but the revenue that loyalty programs generate for the airline industry is only growing. Of course, airline companies do this with new approaches to their loyalty programs. The latest article by Forbes states that airlines don’t want their passengers to redeem miles on third-party partners; they want their passengers to earn free miles on flights.

 The reasons are clear. First of all, loyalty programs are a considerable revenue channel for airlines, and secondly, they don’t want to share their revenue with partners. In the end, having control over loyalty programs on a single platform is the most functional way of solving the third-party problem. So, for SunExpress’s unified platform, we have added loyalty programs that use passenger information for auto-fills, creating personalized offers, and, of course, a free mileage program. 

The new generation of passengers prefers mobile applications 

There is no doubt about the power of mobile applications. The future is mobile, especially for the new generation. The same rules apply for the airline industry. According to RetailDive’s report, more and more passengers prefer mobile boarding passes, and the predictions are incredible for the near future, more than doubling in numbers every year. The predictions show us that passengers demand a seamless mobile experience while booking flight, checking-in, and boarding. With the demand in mind, we have built an airline platform that works as well as a website and is even more user-friendly for the new generation of passengers that live in a mobile world. 

However, smartphones are not the only devices of today’s mobile world. The statistics show us that smartwatches will dominate the mobile world in less than a decade and, even today, the business traveler prefers to perform basic tasks on a smartwatch. Having considered this, we have added a smartwatch application to our airline platform that runs on both WatchOS and Android Watch. 

In-app notifications for special offers 

We have mentioned that we build our platforms taking into account the most critical element of the digital age: big data. With the Ubimecs Airline Platform, our partners have access to an administration panel that shows them passenger preferences to build new marketing strategies for their next steps.  

Another valuable function of this automated data analysis is the ability to create personalized offers for every single passenger. Since the platform works seamless, customers can get in-app notifications about special offers, as well as reminders.

Discover our airline platform to see what more we offer 

Ubimecs Airline Platform is highly customizable for our partners’ needs and there are many more features that we have built using our knowledge of the needs of the airline industry. To explore more, you can visit our webpage or book a meeting with a Ubimecs expert by filling out the form here.