Pi’s Market Leaders: Flights UK

Along with the fashion industry, we're looking at Market Leaders across the UK flights market every quarter.

The travel market is hugely competitive online, with as many as 80% of people in the UK now choosing to research and purchase their flights on the net. Pi leaderboards are therefore hugely valuable for travel sites looking to review industry performance each quarter throughout the year.

Who are the top performers in the UK flights market this quarter?

This chart shows the top performing sites across short haul and long haul flights. We can see that long haul flights are more competitive, with only six sites in the top 20 performing better for short haul.

Throughout the whole of Q2 Skyscanner has completely dominated, always having at least 10% more share of voice than other sites. It ends the quarter with 25.5% of the entire market.

However, the 3rd and 4th positioning sites, Cheapflights.com and Kayak, are both owned by the Priceline Group, and with a combined share of 22.13%, are hot on Skyscanner’s heels, in second place. Here we have an example of the illusion of choice - two of the top 5 sites are actually owned by the same company.

This chart also reveals how budget airlines are ranking higher than premium. For example, EasyJet ranks 6th and RyanAir 8th, whereas British Airways is at 10th position and Emirates at 13. The budget flights do well for short haul flights, whereas the premium do better for long haul. The fact that no airlines rank within the top 5 spots reveals that users are more likely to go to aggregators that show a range of airlines flights, rather than going direct to a specific airline.

Long haul value vs. short haul value

Sites in the top 20 across the UK flights market perform better for long haul flights, but overall, short haul flights offer more value and opportunity.

Short haul flights have been growing in value over the last 3 years, 16% from January 2016 to January 2018. Long haul flights haven’t seen such a drastic uplift, staying moderately the same year on year, only a 7% increase from January 2016 to January 2018.

When does peak demand occur in the UK flights market?

Dramatic peaks are seen each January both in long haul search and short haul search, presumably because after the thrill of christmas, and the lingering of winter, searchers are booking their summer holidays for something to look forward to during the coldest months.

If you’d like further information on our Flights UK market leaders, download the full report and see the breakdown of site performance in greater detail throughout the quarter.

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