Story ID: 
RocketRoute Aims To Be 'Amazon of Aviation'
By: Ian Sheppard
Caption: Following Air BP taking a stake, the flight planning platform/app company sees a broad marketplace strategy as the secret to winning pilot users.
Word Count: 309
RocketRoute plans to become the “Amazon of aviation” and provide pilots with a “one-stop-shop” for everything to do with trip planning anywhere in the world, whether flying a light aircraft as a hobby or a business jet for a living.

Kurt Lyall, co-founder of RocketRoute, told AIN that even though Air BP has invested in the company, the idea is to not limit user’s choice; and the same would apply in other areas—there will be no exclusive deals and pilots will eventually be able to see and book anything where a provider chooses to be included on RocketRoute. For example, this includes FBOs and ground handlers at a particular airport.

RocketRoute also announced a partnership with AvFuel, adding 400 airports to the 850 that Air BP can offer internationally. Norbert Kamp, chief commercial officer of AirBP, said that ground handling would definitely be next after fuel, and this capability is already being enhanced on the RocketRoute platform.

Lyall said that as RocketRoute has come from originally being a way to easily file ICAO-compliant flight plans, this remains the core of the product but much else has been added. However, this is “just the start,” Kamp noted. Lyall said that around 17 percent of all flight plans by general aviation (non-scheduled) aircraft in Europe now come through RocketRoute.

AIN used RocketRoute on a recent trip in Florida, and it took just minutes to work out how to plan an IFR route and get a pilot’s briefing pack. The Air BP element wasn’t used, but it was robust in not charging the pilot’s account or stored credit card until the fuel is in the aircraft. During the planning process, though, the fuel uplift can be easily booked to make getting the actual fuel easy, as payment is then automatic.