03 February,2011 07:04 AM IST | | Bipin Kumar Singh and Vinod Kumar Menon
Several air carriers, who launched ticket windows on the social networking site, say sales have increased considerably
The aviation industry is laughing its way to the bank owing to the increase in sales of tickets, which they credit to social networking sites.
The airlines started using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to advertise their best airfares and promotional offers for some time now.
However, what they have realised recently is that advertising on Facebook has improved their sales, as most people today have a Facebook profile and surf the site for countless hours.
Airline officials claimed that social networking sites are the best way for them to achieve their objective and drive their brand connect with the Internet-savvy audiences.
Keeping that aim in mind, on January 25, Cathay Pacific, an international airline, launched a global initiative titled 'Travel the world in 80 days' wherein participants were supposed to click 'Like' on the airline's Facebook application and submit a (30 sec to 1 min) short video, photo or story through the Facebook page explaining how they would spend 80 days travelling around the world.
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The winner would receive unlimited round-trip economy class tickets from Hong Kong to any destination of their choice on the networks of Cathay Pacific and sister airline Dragonair for 80 days between 1 June and 31 August.
When MiD DAY asked them the reason behind the contest, Naveed Ahmed Khan, marketing communications manager, Cathay Pacific, said, "Social networking sites are important tools through which we can engage our customers.
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We are always seeking creative and innovative ways to engage our customers and this is one of the many promotions launched to achieve that objective."
Airlines also claim that these campaigns improve their brand image, which further help improve sales. And if figures are to go by, then it seems that the more visible an airline is on these sites, the more sales it has.
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According to figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in the year 2009, the top ten international airlines booked more than 2.5 lakh tickets through Facebook (see box).
Suresh Nair, country head, Air Asia said, "We are very active on both Facebook and Twitter. We also link our promotional activities with our pages, which enables us to reach the target market which is the youth in India, who are very active on these sites."
Commenting on social networking sites being used as marketing tools, Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) President Rajesh Chharia, said, "At present, we have a broadband connectivity of over 6 million people, especially the youth and the business class, who are addicted to Facebook.
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Owing to the popularity of these sites,u00a0 airlines, entertainment companies and automobile industry are making maximum business through these social networking sites. The number of social networking users in India is likely to touch 10 million soon."
In India, Jet Airways has the largest fan base on Facebook, with more than 1,30,000 users.
2.5 lakh
Number of airline tickets booked through Facebook in 2009
Facebook bookings
Ryanair: 65,282
Lufthansa: 41,515
EasyJet: 34,593
Air France: 31,256
British Airways: 27,844
Emirates: 25,921
KLM: 22,333
American Airlines: 19,514
Cathay Pacific: 18,102
Singapore Airlines: 16,322
(Figures released by IATA in 2009)
