Kingfisher Airlines Flies High With Web 'E'-Nitiatives

Considering the days when one had to get stuck in traffic jams, and long queues only to have the ticket booking counters shut when you approach your turn, there has been a big turn around in the way air tickets are booked. Online travel is about a Rs.2000 crore market in India, forming less than 5% of the travel business. With IATA’s target of making all carriers switch to e-ticketing by the end of the year, the runway appears smoother for airline carriers as well as end consumers.

The Late Entrance Advantage

Kingfisher Airlines took advantage of its late entry into the market to start a web-based interface with ‘guests’- as their passengers are called. It was recently said to have topped the e-ticketing race, as it achieved 100% e-ticketing. According to industry estimates, e-ticketing saves carriers about Rs.200-400 per ticket. Chandrashekhar Nene, VP IT, Kingfisher Airlines mentions, “When a guest buys a ticket from an agent, I as the airline have to get the money back from the agent. The whole accounting is done through a certain coupon system. With technology coming in, the coupons are just a digital image which can be viewed multiple times.” A leap from the commonly used paper ticketing system, it was a big task to educate security and other personnel to accept the ‘print out’ as a valid entry pass.

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Nene, also a member of the e-ticket evangelist committee of IATA explains, “Once we were on to the portal as a way of interaction with our guests, we thought of offering other services. Since they buy their ticket from the web, they could use the web get their membership to our ‘King Club’, check their balance and use their miles to redeem it for goodies. We then went a step further and offered the service of printing their boarding pass from the web, and the ability to choose their seat.” Their ‘roving agents’ help save on an average 8 minutes of passenger time by approaching their guests when they are in line for security check and helping them check in through a Wi-fi enabled PDA that is connected to a blue tooth printer. All passengers would surely appreciate any escape from standing in a queue.
Sabre Airline Solution for Passenger Reservation

Kingfisher Airlines implemented world leader Sabre Airline Solutions’ passenger reservations and departure control systems - the SabreSonic Passenger Solutions, to manage its reservations, pricing, ticketing and reporting efficiently. Their web applications run on SabreSonic Web module, which also ties up to the SMS platform to provide confirmations. They needed a dependable, mission critical technology to help analyse the market and determine the best approaches to maximise revenue. Sabre AirMax Revenue Manager, the Quasar passenger revenue accounting system and the Sabre Loyalty Suite to optimise operations helped them do just that. A large suite of products from the same vendor enabled seamless integration across their entire operations. Nene reflects, “This helps us pin point the benefits and pain areas of our system, and we also intend to use the same system with our partners, Air Deccan.”

How does the Web benefit the enterprise?

While the web allows passengers a lot of ease in terms of saving time, and hassle, how does it benefit the enterprise?

Nene explains, “The beauty of e-commerce is that all the information is online, so we can access it from anywhere, check on our progress, maintain records, make reports, the works. Everything is automatic, so there is no chance of errors in entry. I can also track where a guest has travelled and make him personalised offers based on that information.” So apart from a cost advantage, there is also a speed advantage. Says Nene, “Today, the whole game of running a business is how quickly you get information, put it to use and judge your decisions like changing flight schedules, etc.”

Evaluating Biometrics

In the process of upgrading servers and networks for faster processes, Kingfisher is also testing biometric systems to enhance security. The carrier, which is looking at expansion in its destination offerings, with plans of starting flights to USA mid next year will also foray into the online tourism market – Kingfisher Holidays. Nene sums it up saying, “This will add to our initiative of cross selling various products and services online, where our guests will get special discounts and offers. The web is a very powerful, eco friendly tool which we are in the process of exploiting to create a revolution.”