A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single click
Next time you go to the airport keep your passport or ID card handy, a print-out of the electronic airline ticket, and your mobile phone, but not to tell friends and relatives that you have arrived safely at your destination but to do your check-in...
Next time you go to the airport keep your passport or ID card handy, a print-out of the electronic airline ticket, and your mobile phone, but not to tell friends and relatives that you have arrived safely at your destination but to do your check-in before boarding.
Air Malta is contemplating the introduction of mobile handset based check-in and online seat allocation as part of its drive to promote online services through its portal www.airmalta.com.
"Today 23 per cent of all the airline's sales is being done online through the portal compared to a few percentage points a year ago," an Air Malta spokesman explained to i-Tech. "The airline's target is to have 30 per cent online bookings by the end of the current financial year in March 2009."
Air Malta was one of the first Maltese organisations to launch a website in the summer of 1996. From then on the airline has continued to update and enhance this website and today it has a state-of-the-art portal capable of not only offering online bookings through an easy to use booking engine, but also offers ancillary services such as bookings of hotels through Expedia.com, online travel insurance and the purchase of excess luggage.
Recently the airline also launched web check-in and a car-hire booking engine offering a selection of cars from various international renowned car-hire companies.
"Although Air Malta is satisfied with the increase it is registering from online bookings, the airline is working hard to continue increasing booking from this medium. The airline is viewing e-business as one of its most strategic units, investing heavily in a new portal and booking engine launched this year," the spokesman added.
Research and feedback received by the airline from customers clearly shows that customers would like to see more services being made available through the portal. This and other considerations, especially overheads related to offline sales, have led Air Malta to change its relationship with travel agents. As from October 1 Air Malta introduced a service fee of €10 on each ticket issued to customers through its sales offices, while each ticket issued from its call centre is subject to a €5 service fee and a telephone charge per call. It also reduced the commission paid to travel agents from four per cent to one per cent.
"Yet we know that some customers would prefer to pay something extra in order to have such services done by a professional agent," admitted Air Malta's spokesman. "We are not moving all our business online since we know that some customers would like to be offered a personalised service through non-online channels. However, since non-online distribution channels are costlier to service, the airline has introduced service fees to cover the additional costs involved. This charge is not levied when bookings are done online."
The Maltese national airline is not the only one servicing Malta that has introduced internet-based services to exploit the new popular internet technologies.
"The Emirates Airline website is far more than just a site to book flights and issue tickets. It's effectively a one-stop shop for all our passengers' needs - right from booking flight tickets, to securing a hotel and even renting a car," said a spokesman for the airline of the United Arab Emirates. "We are very pleased with the number of visits to the Maltese Emirates website."
However, it seems we are still a long way from having the majority of travellers making use of these online facilities.
"Although the number of people using the internet to book on Emirates is increasing rapidly, travel agents remain our greatest source of business. This is also true throughout the Emirates Network."
British Airways, a favourite airline with the Maltese, also provides online services, but confirmed how much the Maltese have to catch up with the European rate of adoption of such online services.
"Bookings made on ba.com are to date equal to 9.5 per cent of all BA bookings from Malta. This is slightly under the average of other European countries which currently stands at 18 per cent," a BA spokesman revealed when asked by this newspaper to quantify.
All three airlines are facing the challenges brought by high fuel prices and the international credit crunch, and as in the case of Air Malta, this means a restructuring of internal procedures, business processes and fees to the end customer. ICT seems to be one of the most important weapons in the fight against soaring costs while providing the best possible service.
"The empowering of ICT is one of the several BA cost-saving measures. Fuel represents the heaviest cost for any airline. BA's measures to contrast the rising costs of fuel are: flying shorter routes, more efficient taking off and landing procedures, the installation of lighter seats. Furthermore, BA has recently launched a scientific test programme together with Rolls-Royce to study the viability of alternative fuels for the aviation industry."
On the other hand, Emirates sees the internet as yet another occasion to enhance its service.
"The high costs of fuel affect the global economy as a whole, not just the airline industry - and we are taking a whole raft of measures right across the company to keep our costs down, while at the same time maintaining our multi-award winning standard of service. The internet is as much about making our services accessible and convenient for passengers as it is about streamlining our own operations. Emirates' customers appreciate the inroads we are making in this area, giving them greater flexibility with their travel plans."
Air Malta is contemplating the introduction of mobile handset based check-in and online seat allocation as part of its drive to promote online services through its portal www.airmalta.com.
"Today 23 per cent of all the airline's sales is being done online through the portal compared to a few percentage points a year ago," an Air Malta spokesman explained to i-Tech. "The airline's target is to have 30 per cent online bookings by the end of the current financial year in March 2009."
Air Malta was one of the first Maltese organisations to launch a website in the summer of 1996. From then on the airline has continued to update and enhance this website and today it has a state-of-the-art portal capable of not only offering online bookings through an easy to use booking engine, but also offers ancillary services such as bookings of hotels through Expedia.com, online travel insurance and the purchase of excess luggage.
Recently the airline also launched web check-in and a car-hire booking engine offering a selection of cars from various international renowned car-hire companies.
"Although Air Malta is satisfied with the increase it is registering from online bookings, the airline is working hard to continue increasing booking from this medium. The airline is viewing e-business as one of its most strategic units, investing heavily in a new portal and booking engine launched this year," the spokesman added.
Research and feedback received by the airline from customers clearly shows that customers would like to see more services being made available through the portal. This and other considerations, especially overheads related to offline sales, have led Air Malta to change its relationship with travel agents. As from October 1 Air Malta introduced a service fee of €10 on each ticket issued to customers through its sales offices, while each ticket issued from its call centre is subject to a €5 service fee and a telephone charge per call. It also reduced the commission paid to travel agents from four per cent to one per cent.
"Yet we know that some customers would prefer to pay something extra in order to have such services done by a professional agent," admitted Air Malta's spokesman. "We are not moving all our business online since we know that some customers would like to be offered a personalised service through non-online channels. However, since non-online distribution channels are costlier to service, the airline has introduced service fees to cover the additional costs involved. This charge is not levied when bookings are done online."
The Maltese national airline is not the only one servicing Malta that has introduced internet-based services to exploit the new popular internet technologies.
"The Emirates Airline website is far more than just a site to book flights and issue tickets. It's effectively a one-stop shop for all our passengers' needs - right from booking flight tickets, to securing a hotel and even renting a car," said a spokesman for the airline of the United Arab Emirates. "We are very pleased with the number of visits to the Maltese Emirates website."
However, it seems we are still a long way from having the majority of travellers making use of these online facilities.
"Although the number of people using the internet to book on Emirates is increasing rapidly, travel agents remain our greatest source of business. This is also true throughout the Emirates Network."
British Airways, a favourite airline with the Maltese, also provides online services, but confirmed how much the Maltese have to catch up with the European rate of adoption of such online services.
"Bookings made on ba.com are to date equal to 9.5 per cent of all BA bookings from Malta. This is slightly under the average of other European countries which currently stands at 18 per cent," a BA spokesman revealed when asked by this newspaper to quantify.
All three airlines are facing the challenges brought by high fuel prices and the international credit crunch, and as in the case of Air Malta, this means a restructuring of internal procedures, business processes and fees to the end customer. ICT seems to be one of the most important weapons in the fight against soaring costs while providing the best possible service.
"The empowering of ICT is one of the several BA cost-saving measures. Fuel represents the heaviest cost for any airline. BA's measures to contrast the rising costs of fuel are: flying shorter routes, more efficient taking off and landing procedures, the installation of lighter seats. Furthermore, BA has recently launched a scientific test programme together with Rolls-Royce to study the viability of alternative fuels for the aviation industry."
On the other hand, Emirates sees the internet as yet another occasion to enhance its service.
"The high costs of fuel affect the global economy as a whole, not just the airline industry - and we are taking a whole raft of measures right across the company to keep our costs down, while at the same time maintaining our multi-award winning standard of service. The internet is as much about making our services accessible and convenient for passengers as it is about streamlining our own operations. Emirates' customers appreciate the inroads we are making in this area, giving them greater flexibility with their travel plans."