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GuestLogix Inc., the world’s leading provider of onboard retail solutions to the airline industry, introduced a new onboard merchandising service, OnTouch Ground Connections, to enable carriers to capture some of this revenue by allowing their passengers to buy ground transport fares in-flight prior to their arrival at airports.
“OnTouch Ground Connections is one of the most intuitive purchases for any passenger as it quickly addresses their most immediate requirement upon arrival: how do I get to my hotel or final destination?” said Tom Douramakos, President and CEO, GuestLogix. “We expect that the rampant need for ground transportation, combined with onboard convenience and relatively low price tag, will lead to high conversion rates for airlines providing our onboard service. The launch of OnTouch Ground Connections positions us to capitalize on this significant market opportunity and increase our average revenue per passenger trip over the long-term.”
The new GuestLogix service has been successfully tested with a major U.S. carrier on flights from the U.S. to Heathrow International Airport and is being introduced on all flights to London. OnTouch Ground Connections provides service at the top 50 airports measured by passengers landed – among which are airports in Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo – which handle the overwhelming proportion of the world’s airline passengers. The service is also available at major airports in Asian cities including Mumbai and Singapore. Initially, OnTouch Ground Connections will offer one transportation service per airport to make it easy for airlines to implement and passengers to use.
OnTouch Ground Connections includes: shuttle trains, buses, shared ride vans, taxis, limos and more. For passengers without prearranged transportation, this service will be a convenient and time saving way to arrange a ride. It takes confusion out of the process and creates options for passengers, many of which just walk out the first door and end up in a taxi line.
Airport signage is often confusing and finding both the ticket counter and the proper pick-up area can be difficult, especially for customers who are not comfortable with the destination’s local language. The combination of added convenience and reduced confusion allows OnTouch™ Ground Connections to help carriers and ground transportation providers improve the customer experience and therefore enhance loyalty. Most importantly, airlines can share in the revenues generated by ground transfer ticket sales without carrying or managing any physical inventory.
“OnTouch Ground Connections is supported by our onboard transaction platform, which is easily customizable for any airline and ground transportation partner,” said Chris Gardner, Managing Director of Global Onboard Merchandising at GuestLogix. “Given that our platform is already onboard the world’s largest carriers, our new onboard service is designed to create maximum revenue lift in a short period of time for all our merchandising partners and airline customers.”
Ground transportation service providers have eagerly joined OnTouch Ground Connections to support global coverage, including a previously announced agreement with a popular Heathrow rail link service provider to central London.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
