Revamp to give easyJet travellers trip ideas

Tuesday 15 April 2008

Flight Search Technology

Air travel bookers are demanding increasingly smart web options – and budget airline easyJet is bidding to boost its website services with a major revamp.

Teaming up with digital marketing agency Splendid, the low cost airline will look to split its web booking options in order to cater to the needs of both flyers sure of where and when they want to fly, and browsers looking for ideas.

Moving toward a proactive approach, the major change will be an option for customers with a time and budget framework to be offered a map image identifying the potential locations they can travel to, along with the real-time display of multiple fares.

A recent study from usability consultancy Webcredible found that online travel agents such as Opodo were trumping airline websites on usability, with customers warming to sites with higher perceived transparency on tax-inclusive pricing from the start of the booking process.

Seeking to offer customers a transparent and tailored flight search solution, Paul Curtis, head of application architecture at easyJet, said: "Only 40 per cent of our customers know precisely when and where they want to go when they visit our site. That leaves as many as 60 per cent of customers looking for inspiration and ideas, and who would consider varying dates and offers."

"Customers often have a set budget in mind, but are open to new destinations. Most travel portals don't support these people, and customers spend a lot of time searching around for the best deals."