Chinese airlines are slowly improving their foreign websites’ and apps' content and e-commerce capabilities, as the carriers expand globally.
For instance, Spring Airlines is working with Booking.com for accommodation options on its international sites.
Similarly, many Chinese airlines, such as Air China, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, XiamenAir, Sichuan Airlines and Beijing Capital Airlines, are working with Amadeus, the Madrid-based travel technology company, to tailor their sites and apps to each market.
In the past year, Chinese airlines’ priorities for their international websites and mobile platforms have largely fallen within three key areas, says Andy Yang, vice president of China and Mongolia, Airline IT, Amadeus IT Group:
- Meeting the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) mandate to make their websites accessible to passengers with disabilities as defined by the Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). (See the related story "Airline websites fall short as DOT accessibility deadline approaches")
- Responsive web design to ensure that their travellers can view and interact with the airline’s site intuitively and optimally, on any display they choose – whether desktop, smartphone, or tablet.
- Providing greater flexibility and functionality on their sites – whether to allow travellers to easily make changes to their bookings or purchase ancillaries to tailor their travel experience.
Click here to read a detailed article on this topic in fullNB1 This is an article by Ritesh Gupta for China Travel News and appears here as part of Tnooz's sponsored content initiative.
NB2 The 2016 China Airline Distribution Conference, hosted by Traveldaily, is taking place in Shanghai on October 25-26. Guests will discuss how airlines can provide personalized services to travelers at each touchpoint of their travel journey, to maximize revenue potential.
Click here to register.