Charter flight platform Avinode is promising to deliver a revamped booking process to make it easier for aircraft operators, brokers, and their clients to interact online. The improved interface that the Swedish company is working on now will allow end users to select their own preferred options to make online quotes clearer.
According to Avinode, once the booking is confirmed the customer can then pay for the trip in the same online interaction. Using the company’s Paynode network, brokers and operators can offer a variety of payment methods and benefit from a faster process.
"As a major tech player in this industry, we know that operators and brokers rely on us to deliver future-proof solutions," said Avinode CEO Oliver King. "That’s why we’re on this journey to create an online booking solution that will make air charter sales smoother."
During the course of 2023, Avinode’s development team will be rolling out multiple new features and is demonstrating some of these this week at EBACE. For instance, charter flight sellers will be able to present multiple aircraft options in the same quote, avoiding the need to create and share multiple PDFs and reducing the time spent preparing multiple quotes.
The streamlined payment process is expected to prevent disputes and refunds with clearer terms and conditions presented in one place. Contract details will be stored online, avoiding the need to print, sign, and fax documents.
Avinode (Booth F62) is already working with a select group of customers to refine and test the new user interface features. It aims to roll these out to more customers later this year.
According to recent data from eMarketer, online sales generally are expected to increase by 56 percent over the next three years. Avinode itself has seen a 400 percent increase in the proportion of end-client searches powered by its web apps since 2018.
“Our vision is that charter operators and brokers will be able to allocate more of their time and energy to offer their customers that five-star experience from start to finish, which is what they do best,” King added. “The book and pay workflow should be the least of their worries, including getting paid on time.”