Air Malta portal doubles internet bookings
I was not a great fan of airline websites. It is bad enough trying to decide where you want to go on holiday and suffering through airports without having any online obstacles!You plough through the various choices, trying to figure out which airport...
I was not a great fan of airline websites. It is bad enough trying to decide where you want to go on holiday and suffering through airports without having any online obstacles!
You plough through the various choices, trying to figure out which airport you want, what day of the week the airline flies there etc, etc. and then get booted out by some message telling you there are no seats available, that the flight costs Lm700, that your credit card number is incorrect or that the airline has gone bankrupt.
If you are not sure when you want to go - as long as you get a good deal, it is even more frustrating. I suggest you set up a calendar and tick off the days as you go through the whole process 30 times to find two flights that will not force you to take out a second mortgage.
So when I heard that Air Malta had a new portal, you will excuse my scepticism. Sure, it looked different but would it work?
I hereby officially eat humble pie, made palatable by a dash of excitement at the prospect of my next trip.
The new website has been designed by Alert Communications but the booking engine that is its heart was done by British firm EB2.
It's a clever little website. It is available in English, Italian, French and German and the appropriate site pops up depending on where you are when you access the site. Not only does the right language load, but also the relevant offers (someone in Dusseldorf might not immediately realise that he wants a flight from Malta to Casablanca). The banners at the top also change to reflect the particular market. The French site would be more focused on culture while the Maltese one would promote the Gigi D'Alessio concert.
There are also a number of services available. You can book car hire as well as hotels now. And you can pre-pay excess luggage before you leave, saving you up to half the cost.
"We have a lot more content and a lot more services online than we did before," Charles Cilia, the general manager for e-business and sales (northern Europe) said.
"But the most important thing is that you can now book online much more easily."
The real treat is booking a flight: Rather than being told when you cannot fly, the site gives you the choice of a week before and after your preferred date, quite impressive when you realise that this is better than the choice given by the website of any other airline operating to Malta!
Air Malta's website has already proved itself. It is getting 14,000 unique visitors a day, extending the airline's reach beyond countries where Malta has a presence. Since it launched officially in mid-June, online bookings have increased by 35 per cent month on month, rising from six per cent before its launch to 15 per cent now.
"Our target is to get a quarter of our bookings online by the end of our financial year in March. This represents Lm14 million in revenue," Mr Cilia said.
The website also gives the airline a global reach it would never have had through either a physical presence or through advertising.
"We have been receiving many hits from the US," Mr Cilia said. "We now have a market presence in places where we previously had to rely on tour operators."
The site reflects the airline's national role, offering a list of events as well as information about the island, complete with links to other national entities like the Malta Tourism Authority.
This is not the end. Air Malta has already launched web check-in for incoming passengers who can now print out their boarding cards at home. And talks are underway to offer insurance online too.
"We have had really positive comments about the website. People everywhere are becoming much less apprehensive about online bookings and credit card payments online. We are able to offer them so much more now!" he said.
Special offers
The box on the right gives a list of flights from E21 - I did not find any at that price in the four months that I looked through but there were plenty on offer from Lm20.
Once you click on the destination - I fancied Paris - within seconds you get a calendar with the price for each day, shown a month at a time, which represents the lowest adult fare available. You can search for the previous and next month so it is easy to find something suitable.
The site also gives you the tax and fuel surcharge so you know how much your trip will cost. It also advises the cancellation or re-booking fee and the baggage allowances.
Booking online
This time I chose Frankfurt - travelling on September 5. Again, the response is quick and I got the flights available on each day from August 29 to September 12. As it happened, the flights on the day I chose were going at Lm29, the lowest in that period. However, my return flight on Sunday, September 9 would have cost me Lm97. From the screen it was immediately obvious that travelling the Saturday before or the Monday after would save me Lm70!
Pretty cool feature...
One thing that is missing is a home button. If you go through a few pages of the booking or special offers and want to get back to the homepage, you either hit the back button or re-type www.airmalta.com.
You plough through the various choices, trying to figure out which airport you want, what day of the week the airline flies there etc, etc. and then get booted out by some message telling you there are no seats available, that the flight costs Lm700, that your credit card number is incorrect or that the airline has gone bankrupt.
If you are not sure when you want to go - as long as you get a good deal, it is even more frustrating. I suggest you set up a calendar and tick off the days as you go through the whole process 30 times to find two flights that will not force you to take out a second mortgage.
So when I heard that Air Malta had a new portal, you will excuse my scepticism. Sure, it looked different but would it work?
I hereby officially eat humble pie, made palatable by a dash of excitement at the prospect of my next trip.
The new website has been designed by Alert Communications but the booking engine that is its heart was done by British firm EB2.
It's a clever little website. It is available in English, Italian, French and German and the appropriate site pops up depending on where you are when you access the site. Not only does the right language load, but also the relevant offers (someone in Dusseldorf might not immediately realise that he wants a flight from Malta to Casablanca). The banners at the top also change to reflect the particular market. The French site would be more focused on culture while the Maltese one would promote the Gigi D'Alessio concert.
There are also a number of services available. You can book car hire as well as hotels now. And you can pre-pay excess luggage before you leave, saving you up to half the cost.
"We have a lot more content and a lot more services online than we did before," Charles Cilia, the general manager for e-business and sales (northern Europe) said.
"But the most important thing is that you can now book online much more easily."
The real treat is booking a flight: Rather than being told when you cannot fly, the site gives you the choice of a week before and after your preferred date, quite impressive when you realise that this is better than the choice given by the website of any other airline operating to Malta!
Air Malta's website has already proved itself. It is getting 14,000 unique visitors a day, extending the airline's reach beyond countries where Malta has a presence. Since it launched officially in mid-June, online bookings have increased by 35 per cent month on month, rising from six per cent before its launch to 15 per cent now.
"Our target is to get a quarter of our bookings online by the end of our financial year in March. This represents Lm14 million in revenue," Mr Cilia said.
The website also gives the airline a global reach it would never have had through either a physical presence or through advertising.
"We have been receiving many hits from the US," Mr Cilia said. "We now have a market presence in places where we previously had to rely on tour operators."
The site reflects the airline's national role, offering a list of events as well as information about the island, complete with links to other national entities like the Malta Tourism Authority.
This is not the end. Air Malta has already launched web check-in for incoming passengers who can now print out their boarding cards at home. And talks are underway to offer insurance online too.
"We have had really positive comments about the website. People everywhere are becoming much less apprehensive about online bookings and credit card payments online. We are able to offer them so much more now!" he said.
Special offers
The box on the right gives a list of flights from E21 - I did not find any at that price in the four months that I looked through but there were plenty on offer from Lm20.
Once you click on the destination - I fancied Paris - within seconds you get a calendar with the price for each day, shown a month at a time, which represents the lowest adult fare available. You can search for the previous and next month so it is easy to find something suitable.
The site also gives you the tax and fuel surcharge so you know how much your trip will cost. It also advises the cancellation or re-booking fee and the baggage allowances.
Booking online
This time I chose Frankfurt - travelling on September 5. Again, the response is quick and I got the flights available on each day from August 29 to September 12. As it happened, the flights on the day I chose were going at Lm29, the lowest in that period. However, my return flight on Sunday, September 9 would have cost me Lm97. From the screen it was immediately obvious that travelling the Saturday before or the Monday after would save me Lm70!
Pretty cool feature...
One thing that is missing is a home button. If you go through a few pages of the booking or special offers and want to get back to the homepage, you either hit the back button or re-type www.airmalta.com.