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Airline Vertical
Airline Industry flying into SEO skies in a softening economy
by Ron Callari
Citing higher fuel costs and a slowing economy, the International Air Transport Association on lowered its industry forecast markedly for 2008, indicating an expected collective loss of $2.3 billion.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. At its annual meeting, the IATA urged governments to roll back regulations they argue are damaging to the airline industry.
After enormous efficiency gains since 2001 among the majority of airlines, there is less and less profit margins to cut and skyrocketing oil prices are changing the landscape daily.
Since late 2007, the rising oil prices caused a number of airlines to file for bankruptcy and halt operations. The crisis has claimed premium-class carriers MAXjet Airways Inc., Eos Airlines Inc. and Silverjet Plc, as well as Aloha Airlines Inc. and low-fare carriers Skybus Airlines Inc. and ATA Airlines Inc
Fuel surcharges are becoming the norm. While reserved for international hauls in the past, domestic airlines are adding fuel surcharges as well. By the end of 2007, the surcharges amounted to about $20 per domestic roundtrip. The current fuel surcharge for many domestic flights has now risen to about $50 (and is running more than four times higher on international routes). As the economy softens, these charges are only going to climb.
A surcharge on checked baggage is also a new reality facing the traveling public. American Airlines announced recently that it would eliminate about 12 percent of its flights by the end of the year and added a $15 surcharge for each checked bag.
The chief executive of British Airways, William M. Walsh, said: “We’re definitely as an industry in a crisis situation. With a softening in the economic environment, high oil prices, it’s inevitable that fares have to go up.”
In a world of unpredictability, airlines are looking to spend their advertising dollars more efficiently, where the traditional spend on the typical “push” forms of advertising of print and TV are being shifted to the “pull” arena of the Internet.
Overall, traffic from search engines comes down to how many pages you have indexed, and how many quality links are pointing at those pages. It is widely documented that BA has a significantly higher number of inbound links found on search engines, which are of high quality.
The biggest factor in stimulating online travel sales through e-Commerce will be websites designed and optimized to meet consumer needs. The travel industry should closely monitor consumer online booking habits and their search behavior through market research and change their websites accordingly.
BA recorded 147,000 Google page indexes in 2008, topping its closest rival Virgin Atlantic, which recorded only 3,240 and took fifth spot in a recent survey. The significance of these stats means BA has a much higher chance of being found for different search terms (keywords) typed in. Industry experts affirm that is the quality of the airlines web design that has driven up its Search Engine Optimization
Passenger revenue per available seat mile or PRASM is referred to as a measure of passenger “unit revenue”. It is calculated by dividing passenger revenue by available seat miles. If an airline is looking to improve its PRASM or yield, more attention has to be paid to targeted marketing. SEO can convert visitors into buyers in a much more effective way than traditional advertising.
In a softening economy, iOptimize understands the needs of today’s airline professionals. We listen to your requirements and talk your language. For more additional content that pertains to your business, sign up for our newsletter today.
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