HK Express launches online travel agency U-Fly Holidays

u-fly-holidaysPromotional image for the launch of U-Fly Holidays

HONG Kong-based budget carrier HK Express has entered into the OTA space with the launch of U-Fly Holidays.

The platform, which launched earlier this week, allows users to book HK Express flights, hotels, tours, ground transportation and bundled packages. With an accommodations inventory of over 500,000 properties in 21,000 cities, U-Fly Holidays is more comprehensive than some OTAs already in the market.

However, the platform currently only offers flights by the LCC, limiting destinations to those served by HK Express only.

“At the moment, U-Fly Holidays focuses exclusively on flights from HK Express, where guests will be able to find a wide range of great deals on the platform just within a few clicks,” said Charles Johnson, general manager of U-Fly Holidays.

But revealing future expansion plans, he said: “It’s certainly our goal to align our product offering to include more offers from the U-Fly Alliance group of airlines.”

The other airlines under the U-Fly Alliance are co-founding members Lucky Air, Urumqi Air and West Air, along with HK Express, while South Korea’s Eastar Jet was recently inducted.

For now, the U-Fly Holidays site offers HK Express’ South-east Asian services. “The remaining HK Express network will be added this month. Airport transfers and travel insurance will be added in the near future, and expanded products and fare deals will be enhanced over the coming months,” added Johnson.

Explaining the move for the low-cost carrier to enter the OTA space is Andrew Cowen, director and CEO of HK Express. He said: “Our vision is to empower everyone to explore Asia at an affordable price and encourage guests to expand their horizons through travel.

“We have expanded to 26 destinations in Asia and carried five million guests since (transforming into a Hong Kong-based LCC), and have achieved profitability with a revenue of HK$2.4 billion (US$309.5 million) by 2015 year’s end, while the fleet has been aggressively expanded to 15 in August.

“All in which have motivated us to go a step further and reflect on the ways to take our offering to the next level.”

Cowen added that the move has always been part of the company’s plan as part of efforts to streamline the travel planning phase for its customers. Having the platform also allows the airline flexibility to offer packaged deals and offers at their discretion.

Asked if this changes the distribution strategy, he said: “HK Express has seen strong demand from our guests on budget travel since the airline transformed into an LCC in October 2013.

“We believe in a multi-channel distribution strategy, so we offer guests the chance to transact with us in the manner they prefer best. Of course our best fares and full range of services will always be offered on our own website, whereas other channels may have more limited options available.”

In a press statement, Cowen also affirms the new platform’s positioning as an OTA.

“Over the next 12 months we will continue to develop U-Fly Holidays including launching into new markets and welcoming additional content ranging from airlines to accommodation and activities making U-Fly Holidays a strong, competitive force in the online travel space.”

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