Ryanair claims its new website later this year will be nothing like a traditional airline's digital presence.
The European low cost carrier says it is looking and the user experience and models more commonly associated with online retailers outside of travel as it prepares to embark on a major overhaul of its website.
Chief marketing officer, Kenny Jacobs, says travellers are driving the changes within the travel sector, rather than industry brands, with mobility and connectivity at the heart of it all.
"Customers have taken control of their experience," he says, with a gradual shift towards seeking a more "retail-like" experience required when they use and interact with travel brands on the web.
Jacobs claims the airline is "creating a brave new website" and "improving its apps", both of which are pencilled in for release later this year.
Speaking at the CAPA Conference in Dublin, Ireland, this week, Jacobs says the airline is thinking more about the online user experience and offering from the likes of global ecommerce giant Amazon and British retailer John Lewis.
"This category [aviation] has been held up for too long," Jacobs argues, when talking about legacy technology which powers travel websites and how they operate..
To allow it take seize control of its own fate online, he claims the airline is developing its technology in-house via the new Ryanair Labs unit, a division which already has more than 100 people working on creating tools and platforms for both back-end and marketing functions.
"You shouldn't let the technology providers guide you," Jacobs argues, adding that when it comes to retail, Ryanair can now fill the "utility space" online in terms of products and services.
Jacobs says as a result of the expected major changes in how it positions itself online, including a sticking to a "mobile-first" mantra, "there will be new types of ancillaries" the airline can push to customers, especially when utilising the constant connectivity passengers have between their devices and Ryanair.
Details about what those "new types of ancillaries" might be were not shared during the discussion, but clearly the carrier is thinking way beyond "traditional" services such as car hire, insurance and accommodation that it currently pushes during the booking flow.
NB: Amazon image via Shutterstock.
NB2: Disclosure - author's travel and accommodation costs were supported by CAPA event sponsor Travelport.