Cathay charges up distribution capabilities with Skyscanner deal

Skyscanner has linked up with Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary, Cathay Dragon, to make them the first Hong Kong airlines to be able to sell tickets directly within the site. 

Not content with launching a new train booking app to the rail-loving public of the UK, Skyscanner has scored another first this month with the first phase of the project now available to Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon customers and Skyscanner users across 40 regions, including Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States and Taiwan.

“Cathay Pacific is committed to working… to widen our distribution coverage”

“We are very pleased to partner with Skyscanner in the development of this new distribution capability (NDC) in order to provide travellers with an improved and seamless booking experience,” said Cathay Pacific director of commercial and cargo, Ronald Lam.

“Cathay Pacific is committed to working with industry partners to widen our distribution coverage and make our award-winning products more accessible to a broader perspective of customers,” Lam added.

The Skyscanner direct booking platform will give Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon passengers, and travel agents, access to an exhaustive range of itineraries on a powerful booking channel, without being redirected to supplier sites.

This aims to results in a quick, easier and more efficient booking process.

Partners on the platform have reported a 20% uplift on booking conversions on basic tickets, a 50% conversion rate lift on mobile bookings and a 100% uplift in ancillary ticket sales.

Skyscanner was the first travel meta-search engine with the capacity to display and sell tickets directly through the NDC connection, building this into its direct booking platform. Skyscanner has since gone on to lead the field when it comes to IATA’s NDC initiative, having been the first company to achieve Level 3 Aggregator status.

“Spearheading the next generation of flexible and dynamic travel content distribution”

Hugh Aitken, senior director of strategic partnerships at Skyscanner, said: “We are delighted that Cathay Pacific is joining an ever-growing number of airlines including British Airways, Scoot and Finnair who are spearheading the next generation of flexible and dynamic travel content distribution through the Skyscanner global marketplace.”