Avinode poised for further growth

TIN news:   Technology firm Avinode is poised to ride the “third wave” of interest in online business jet booking tools as it looks to take “the next step” in the company's evolution.
 
Since its creation in 2011, the Swedish company has focused on the development of matching engines to bring together brokers seeking aircraft capacity with charter operators. Once paired, they then conclude the transaction outside of Avinode.
 
However, says Niklas Berg, Avinode chief executive officer, the next stage will be to offer real-time booking functionality. “If [the charter operators] can guarantee pricing and let the system do the work it will save them a lot of time,” he says.
 
At the moment operators have a conversion rate of around 2-5% using Avinode’s system and Berg believes this figure will fall if it can add the new functionality.
 
While Berg will not be drawn on when it might launch any upgrade, he says it is “very close”.
 
“If we decide to do this we could roll it out within six months,” he says.
 
Avinode is getting “closer and closer” to its aim of making booking a business jet as easy as reserving an airline ticket.
 
“Within three to five years it will be possible to have the same booking experience with private jets as you do on Expedia,” he says.
 
Around 700 operators are signed up to Avinode, alongside 500 brokers. It has a presence in the US, Europe and, increasingly, South America. And Berg says that at NBAA it will process its 10 millionth request using the system.