Earlier this week, Ctrip announced its plan to change its name to Trip.com Group.
Releasing quarterly earnings, chairman James Liang says the move is about positioning the company as a global player.
Trip.com was acquired by Ctrip in late 2017 when the Chinese online travel agency repositioned it as its international brand as well as boosted Skyscanner with trip planning content.
At the World Aviation Festival 2019 in London last week, PhocusWire spoke to James Spalding, airline director of the U.K. and Europe for Trip.com.
He discusses positioning the Trip.com brand alongside Skyscanner and Ctrip within the fast-growing group, as well as its ambitions going forward.
Spalding also talks about the importance of flights in terms of increasing scale for the online travel agency and the challenges of knocking on the doors of airlines.
Ctrip has spoken previously about an ambition to be a personal travel assistant for customers - an area that Spalding explains is a role of Trip.com within that strategy.
PhocusWire @ WAF 2019 - Trip.com on being in a huge group, ambitions and importance of flights
World Aviation Festival 2019
We interviewed execs from across the aviation landscape, including airlines, manufacturers and tech vendors, during the three-day event in London.