Meet The Winners: Skyscanner

Michael Docherty, Commercial Director at Skyscanner, speaks to Routes about its sponsorship of the Routes World 2023 awards and why data is so important within the aviation industry.

Founded in 2003, travel marketplace Skyscanner commemorated its 20^th anniversary by exhibiting at Routes World 2023 in Istanbul and sponsoring the Routes Awards 2023.

“We are very lucky to be here and working with partners across the industry, whether that be airlines, airports, destinations to better understand the complex problem that is travel and come up with the right solutions for our travelers,” Docherty says.

On addressing the challenges in route development, the Skyscanner director notes the importance of utilizing data for partners to make well-informed, timely decisions based on what travelers require.

“A lot of the decisions made pre-pandemic were based on what happened in the past,” Docherty explains. “We can no longer think that way. The more we can bring in pieces of the jigsaw to truly understand traveller demand, I think it will put everybody in a far better place and serve travelers far greater in the future.”

In the below video interview, Docherty touches upon how the data gathered at Skyscanner encompasses over 100 million people’s usage, behaviours, and data across the channel every month. Using this wealth of data, the company can work with airports, airlines, and destinations to meet customer interests.

“Everyone is responsible for ensuring we have the right things in place to make travel a success for everyone involved,” he says. “We want to consult our partners to understand what challenges their facing and how we can help to address them directly.”