Airline business on the web and challenges for airlines in Sri Lanka

The Internet is creating opportunities for airlines beyond the traditional air travel business. There has been no turning back from the Internet revolution, and many leading Airlines believe their online channels are vital in reaching out to their customers. The challenge now for Airlines and other companies within the travel sector is not whether to go online, but when and how to obtain the best and fastest return on their investment. It is a proven fact beyond doubt that e-commerce works. Many International & domestic airlines in other countries in the world use their web sites as well as online travel agents sites to earn revenue with high degree of market competitiveness. In Sri Lanka such usage is very low due to various reasons such as technical, investment, economical, social. Also a biggest challenge remains how to use these channels more effectively to cut costs and create new revenue streams. It is important to provide significant new insights into the development and implementation of web business strategies that will lead airlines in Sri Lanka to a competitive advantage. In this process it is possible to assess the current usage of Internet in airline business in Sri Lanka against the usage of other airlines in the world. With this can identify factors and challenges for introducing and developing web e-commerce strategies for airline business in Sri Lanka. This thesis proposes possible strategies to improve market competitiveness in airline business in Sri Lanka using web. Domestic airlines in Sri Lanka can focus on having a web site with at least flight schedule updates, flight booking and FFP as an initial step. Further they can analyze web site access and booking data and decide on future path. National carrier in Sri Lanka needs to plan a web site strategy for next three years. Also it will have to decide on timelines of the project and decide on outsourcing with data security terms. The model identified and explained in this thesis will be helpful in assessing the existing web site strategy and also to focus on future direction for an airlines web site