BA owner to invest in Volantio after Hangar 51 participation

BA owner to invest in Volantio after Hangar 51 participation

Data platform identifies flexible passengers on high demand flights and incentivises them to switch Continue reading

British Airways owner International Airlines Group is to invest in US flight tech start-up Volantio following its participation in IAG’s global accelerator programme Hangar 51.

IAG selected seven companies from more than 350 applications in 46 countries, to participate in its ten-week accelerator programme following a competitive pitch day.

Based in Madrid and Barcelona, the start-ups worked closely with industry experts and mentors at IAG, Iberia, Iberia Express and Vueling to develop and test their innovative products.

Of those seven companies, Volantio has been selected to continue working with IAG and further develop its data-driven platform.

It will also receive funding from IAG’s multi-million pound investment fund for digital transformation.

Volantio has developed a platform called Yana that enables airlines to proactively identify flexible passengers on high demand flights and offer them alternative seats on lower demand flights with added incentives.

Passengers are notified days in advance of their departure to provide enough time to change plans accordingly.

Central to Yana are machine learning algorithms that combine millions of anonymised data points to identify passengers with the highest probability of acceptance.

Passengers are subsequently sent personalised offers which can include benefits such as upgrades, travel vouchers and frequent flyer points.

During Hangar 51, Volantio ran tests with Iberia to analyse passengers’ behaviour trends and launched Yana in Europe in 27 business days.

This was the fastest deployment it has ever conducted globally with any airline.

IAG is working with Volantio to provide more opportunities for its customers who can benefit from having flexible travel plans.

The web-based platform will also enable the group’s airlines to increase asset utilisation and unit revenues.

IAG head of digital business transformation, Glenn Morgan, said: “Hangar 51 is a fascinating and mutually valuable opportunity for us to work with start-ups on real business challenges.

“Volantio has shown us the endless possibilities of how we can transform passengers’ journey and the future of travel. We’re excited to be investing in such an innovative start-up which has the potential to mutually benefit both airlines and passengers.”