Alternative Airlines Celebrates Remarkable 6 Month Growth

The company's success over the past 6 months is a testament to the hard work and innovation of the team, who have adapted to the challenges presented by COVID-19.

23/08/21 — Alternative Airlines has experienced an exceptional period of growth, having generated £14.7M in revenue over the past 6 months (between February and July 2021). During this time, the flight search and booking site saw an incredible 773% increase in its monthly revenue — rising from £550k (GBP) for the month of February 2021 to almost £4.8M for the month of July 2021. In June and July 2021 the site also consecutively achieved its highest ever monthly flight booking count.

Thanks to the site’s adaptability and innovative approach to overcoming the challenges of the pandemic, these figures suggest that, in 2021, Alternative Airlines will surpass 2019’s total revenue of £19M to finish on its best ever financial year.

Despite the previous setback of 2020 as a result of the pandemic — when the company generated a revenue of £9.4M (almost equivalent to its 2018 revenue) — this announcement confirms that Alternative Airlines is comfortably back on track to achieving its goal of £100M revenue by 2023.

But perhaps what's most remarkable is that this news comes even as COVID-19 continues to cause unprecedented disruption and halter almost all international travel. This is because Alternative Airlines’ success can be primarily accredited to the company’s growth within the United States. Over 90% of Alternative Airlines total flight bookings were from the United States in July 2021 (compared to 53% in July 2020), and the majority of these bookings were for domestic routes.

When the pandemic first shut down flying between borders the company saw an opportunity to target travellers in larger countries, especially within North America, where internal travel was poised to recover fastest. Since Alternative Airlines had already been growing strongly in many countries around the world since the company re-launched its flight booking platform in 2017, it was perfectly positioned to shift its focus towards these larger countries.

One way that Alternative Airlines has been able to target domestic travellers is with ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) payment plan options. In its mission to provide greater payment flexibility, Alternative Airlines has offered long-term payment plans as a way to pay for flights for years. But with even more travellers looking for ways to make booking flights more affordable as a result of COVD-19, the site has seen demand for flexible payment options increase further. So since the pandemic started, Alternative Airlines has partnered with many more of the leading BNPL payment plan providers.

Sam Argyle, Managing Director at Alternative Airlines, commented: “Providing greater choice has always been important to us. When the pandemic first shut down international travel, we saw an opportunity to target domestic travellers with short-term, interest-free payment plan options. These payment plan options fit nicely with the average order value (AOV) of these types of flights, and have proven very popular. The demand for this is increasing further as air travel continues to recover, as more and more people look to book the flights that they want, when they’re ready, while using payment methods that help them manage their budgets.”

Over the past 18 months, Alternative Airlines has also focused on setting itself up to benefit from the recovery of travel for leisure as COVID-19 restrictions ease and international travel begins to resume. Exclusively focused on flights, the site continues to position itself as the flight-booking platform of choice for those who want a complete, flexible, and personalised booking experience.

Recent projects have included the launch of easier-to-use seat selection, to make it simpler for passengers to pre-select their seats, as well as offering additional services such as Cancellation Protection and Lost Baggage Protection. From comparing airlines to booking the exact services they want, Alternative Airlines’ customers are able to book their flights in confidence, with the ability to fully customise their booking to meet their needs.

Argyle added: “Alternative Airlines is home to a very ambitious team, focused on our long-term sustainable growth as we continue to optimise the service that we provide. Behind the scenes we have been working on some incredibly exciting projects — from bringing richer airline content through NDC, to providing more routes and airline transfer options through the launch of our Virtual Interlining project. We’re looking forward to some very exciting months ahead, as we continue to expand our team and work closely with our innovative partners.”

With a seamless pre and post-booking experience and Customer Service Team on hand to help, Alternative Airlines offers a greater choice of over 600 global airlines. As well as choosing from over 160 localised currencies, the site offers over 40 ways to pay, including a number of short-term and longer-term BNPL payment plan options and even cryptocurrency.

To begin searching for flights, visit: http://alternativeairlines.com

For press and media information, please contact Avalon Harris-Trussell at aharris-trussell@alternativeairlines.com

To see what roles Alternative Airlines is currently recruiting for, visit Alternative Airlines’ Work With Us page.