Airline mobile applications have experienced a 55% in average monthly active users (MAU) between 2016 and 2018, according to a study.
The App Annie State of Mobile report reveals the boost in average MAU for the top five airlines mobile apps.
In the United States, the top three airline apps by average MAU via smartphones were American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines. In the United Kingdom, EasyJet came out on top, while in Germany and France, it was Lufthansa and Air France, respectively.
Overall, total sessions in travel and navigation apps increased 50% in the two-year period, with the U.K. and France seeing an 85% increase and the U.S. seeing a 55% increase.
Other segments experiencing significant growth were car-sharing, where the top five apps in the U.S. saw a 25% increase from 2017 to 2018.
The growth in monthly active users of U.S.-based bike- and scooter-sharing apps was more marked at 530%. While this method of transport is still emerging, its user base appears to be growing rapidly, and existing ride-hailing companies including Uber and Lyft are taking note.
In December, Lyft said it was investing $100 million in expanding a New York-based bike-share scheme, while Uber acquired e-bike company Jump in April.
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Other wider trends revealed in the report include a 35% increase in total app downloads to 194 billion between 2016 and 2018, with China accounting for almost 50% of total downloads.
Global app store consumer spend (paid downloads, in-app purchases and in-app subscriptions) increased 75% over the two years to $101 billion, with China accounting for almost 40% of spend.
In the U.S., the average user has more than 100 apps downloaded but uses around 33% of them, while in France, Germany and the U.K., average consumers have about 90 apps downloaded but also use about a third.
Social and communication apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, also owned by Facebook, account for more than 685 billion hours, which is half of the time spent on mobile globally.
Recent research from Travelport Digital shows almost a third of travelers have used chat platforms to search for or book trips.