clickair professional launched in response to expanding business travel market

Tuesday 23rd September, 2008

clickair is investing more in the business traveller. And with a 42% increase in revenue from this sector expected in 2009, Spain’s leading low fares airline announced the launch today of a brand new internet portal, clickair professional, pledging to make ticket prices for business fares 16.5% lower than the market average.

www.clickair.com/professional is specifically designed for companies and travel agents. It is the only online solution on the market enabling SMEs, SOHOs, travel agencies and tour operators to manage all their flight requirements from a single web application, simply and efficiently. Registering with clickair professional, provides users with access to exclusive benefits, including discounts on certain routes, triple Iberia Plus Points for companies, special promotions for travel agents and a unique tariff enabling cancellations and modifications to be made to reservations without charge.

“clickair will carry more than seven million passengers this year and some 35% of them will have flown for business, rather than leisure,” said clickair CEO Alex Cruz, who will talk about the intiative at the World Low Cost Airline Summit in London this week. ”clickair professional uniquely combines the advantages of online shopping with personalised tools tailored to each company user or travel agent, offering exclusive prices that will be 16.5% lower than the industry average.”

clickair professional offers fully tailored services to individual needs with 24/7 access to a portal where users can manage reservations securely. Personalised control through reports and invoices provide efficient management, which can be tailor-made to suit each client. It also enables clickair to segment the market more appropriately.

Segmentation of the online market

The launch of clickair professional represents the beginning of the second generation of online sales of airline tickets, combining the traditional speed and low cost of Internet purchases with the option of personalisation and self-management. “By targeting each sector individually, we are better able to understand their needs and develop tools to fulfil these needs,” added Alex Cruz.

About clickair

clickair, whose headquarters and main base of operations is at Barcelona El Prat Airport, flies to 50 destinations throughout Spain, the British Isles, Continental Europe, North Africa and the Middle East with a fleet of 21 Airbus A320s. clickair is forecast to carry 7.2 million passengers in 2008, 60% more than the 4.5 million passengers carried last year on flights originating in Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, Valencia, La Coruna, Vigo and Bilbao.

According to data from European air traffic agency Eurocontrol, in 2007 clickair was the most punctual airline of Spain and Europe compared with all airlines currently operating in the Spanish territory. This was also the case for the first six months of 2008. Last April clickair became the first Spanish company admitted to the association of European Airlines Rate Moves (ELF) which brings together more than 85% of the sector and in 2007 transported more than 135 million passengers on the Continent.

On March 31, 2008 the Spanish stock exchange regulator was formally advised of negotiations between the shareholders of clickair and the airline Vueling, also based in Barcelona, with a view to their merger.