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Heathrow Express and GuestLogix Inc., the world’s leading provider of on-board retail solutions to the airline industry, announced an agreement to offer airline passengers the convenience of non-stop train travel to downtown London upon their arrival to London Heathrow International, the world’s third busiest airport.
Heathrow Express train tickets will soon be sold using the popular GuestLogix Mobile Virtual Store retail platform, which is deployed or is being implemented by leading carriers representing over 30% of the passenger trips taken annually worldwide. The initial rollout will be with a global carrier on all flights originating from New York City.
“We’re delighted to be working with GuestLogix to introduce Heathrow Express to the US airline industry,” said Diane Burke, Head of Sales and Marketing for Airport Express Alliance. “GuestLogix provides us the most convenient and efficient platform to reach most of the airline passenger traffic to London.”
Market research indicates airline travelers are ready to purchase tickets to events, entertainment, and airport transfers, if the on-board buying experience was convenient and made good use of their time. GuestLogix estimates that airlines can generate at least $20 billion in additional ancillary revenue annually within the next few years through innovative on-board retail initiatives, as represented by today’s announcement.
John Devins, Director, GuestLogix Asia Pacific, said, “Selling airport transfer tickets on-board is particularly relevant in Asia, where many destination cities require travellers to purchase or make enquiries on airport transfer services, often made difficult due to language differences or concerns on vendors’ reliability.”
“This deal represents a paradigm shift in carriers’ attitudes to customer service. Rather than focusing only on the flight experience between airports, they are also starting to offer services that will take the passenger from origin to ultimate destination in one seamless journey. London is a popular business and leisure travel destination for Asian travellers, and GuestLogix looks forward to rolling out the sale of Heathrow Express tickets on UK-bound Asian flights.”
GuestLogix expects rollouts to occur on international flights, particularly from Asia, before the end of 2009.
Tom Douramakos, President and CEO of GuestLogix, said, “Our signing with Airport Express Alliance keeps us on plan to leverage our growing airline retail footprint. Heathrow Express tickets provide our airline customers an instant opportunity to grow new profitable revenues while improving the travel experience for their passengers. They can accomplish this without having to carry any physical inventory.”
The GuestLogix Mobile Virtual Store platform is acknowledged as the de facto standard in on-board retailing by the airline industry. Its state-of-the-art POS handheld and software services allow for batch and real-time credit and debit card processing as well as cash handling, inventory and promotions management, supply chain and fulfillment management. With the addition of merchandising options through its In-Flight Box Office merchandising service, the Company is now able to offer destination-based products and services spanning theatre tickets to Broadway productions, theme park and attraction passes, catalog shopping with delivery, and now, convenient airport transfers.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
