Cheapflights gears up for German launch

Cheapflights has confirmed it will unveil a dedicated site for the German market by the end of year and has earmarked launches in ten other markets. Officials revealed the plans to Travolution at the official launch of its new UK site in London this week. Until now the price comparison giant has played down the…

Cheapflights has confirmed it will unveil a dedicated site for the German market by the end of year and has earmarked launches in ten other markets.

Officials revealed the plans to Travolution at the official launch of its new UK site in London this week.

Until now the price comparison giant has played down the precise details of its expansion programme, but plans for the German market are advanced enough that a launch could be “within months” and certainly by the end of the year.

The Cheapflights site in Germany will go under the name of cheapflug.de.

UK managing director Francesca Ecsery said the development of a new technology platform, including a common interface for uploading global deals, would allow for easier expansion into new markets.

An additional ten country sites have been identified by the Cheapflights board for development in the coming years, officials said this week.

Ecsery added that the company had set “double-digit” percentage growth targets year-on-year for both revenue and traffic.

“We have had solid growth for 12 years and we want to continue with that pattern,” she said.

The new UK site was initially unveiled in beta in June. A full roll-out was completed this week, ending over a year of development and testing initially on its US and Canada sites, and finally with the .co.uk site.

Marketing manager Kevin Pratt said the company had no plans for a major offline consumer marketing campaign to support the launch of the new site, relying on its existing and successful use of online advertising and PR.