Gulf Air report online sales success

Gulf Air's online sales strategy has been a huge success with triple digit growth fuelled by robust bookings on one of the industry's most user-friendly website - Gulfair.com.

"Our online sales has witnessed tremendous growth and our sales are soaring to a new level thanks to our state-of-the-art booking engine and attractive web fares," said Acting Chief Commercial Officer Mr. Danny Barranger

"We have very positive feedback from our customers who have tested our comprehensive and user-friendly internet booking service, which is the biggest e-commerce business in the kingdom," said Mr. Barranger adding that in March Gulf Air web sales grew by 42 % and quadrupled in the last quarter.

Gulf Air formally launched its new state-of-the-art Internet Booking Engine (IBE) in December 2007 in its progressive efforts to provide customers an enhanced travel experience.

The new IBE-enabled website at gulfair.com provides faster, simpler, more convenient, accessible and even more secure features for both individual customers as well as corporate houses. The IBE also facilitates online booking of hotel accommodation and car hire in several of Gulf Air's network destinations.

The new booking engine also comes with a 'best fare guarantee' that Gulf Air customers can be confident that when booking on the airline’s web site, they will not find a more competitive fare for the same itinerary on any other web site. If they do, Gulf Air will reimburse the fare difference. It also provides the convenience and security of buying online.

"We wanted to provide our customers a wholesome travel experience at the click of a button and the response has been overwhelming, even for destinations yet to be flown," said Gulf Air Director Distribution &e-Commerce Lars Denlew, referring to Shanghai and Hyderabad as examples.

Gulf Air launches flights to Shanghai on June 16 and Hyderabad on July 1.

"Buying online has never been this easy and safe thanks to the new booking tool," said Mr. Denlew adding that website now links together 67 cities in 30 counties in the Gulf Air network and tickets can be bought in 5 minutes, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, until 23 hours from departure.

To enhance the customer experience, Gulf Air also supports Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP) cards offering them among the payment options for flight tickets on Gulfair.com. UATP is a low-cost payment option that airlines offer to their corporate customers to reduce the cost of their credit card purchases.