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Skyscanner Reports Flight Search Traffic up 54% in First Quarter 2009
EDINBURGH, April 2 /PRNewswire/ -- - Year on Year Growth at end of First Quarter is 87% Leading European flight search engine Skyscanner today announced a 54% year on year increase in site traffic for the first quarter of 2009. More than 50 million flight searches take place each month on the Skyscanner site - 65% of these from outside the UK. "We're very pleased with the overall growth for the quarter, but it is the continued acceleration in growth which is exceptionally positive," said Gareth Williams, CEO of Skyscanner. "At the beginning of 2009 we reported growth of 32%. This has accelerated rapidly over the last three months, culminating last week in growth of 87% over the March 2008 figures." Context for these figures was provided by the Hitwise report at the start of 2009 of a 42% drop in flight searches across the online travel sector. Skyscanner's continued push into overseas markets has resulted in particularly strong growth in Europe, but there has also been a huge jump in the US market, with end of quarter year on year figures at 160%. The end of quarter growth figure for the rest of the world (beyond US and Europe) is 163%. "We are very focused on being a global leader," said Gareth Williams. "No company in the travel sector can afford to think regionally. Around 65% of our traffic comes from countries outside the UK and is continuing to build with the addition of new top level domain names." One factor contributing to Skyscanner's international growth is the site's increasingly extensive coverage - 676 airlines, and around 600,000 routes are now available through Skyscanner, with the objective of covering every commercial flight in the world expected to be achieved in the next quarter. "There was never any doubt that 2009 would be a tough year for the online travel industry, along with every other market sector," said Gareth Williams. "However, although value is more important than ever, people are reluctant to sacrifice their holidays. But they want the very best deals possible and they're not keen on sites that charge commission, or expect them to trawl through different dates and destinations one by one to find the best offers - all of which is very good news for Skyscanner." http://www.skyscanner.net
