3/17/2015

OneTwoTrip: Flying smarter | Russia Beyond The Headlines

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ONETWOTRIP: FLYING SMARTER

Experts have been playing the funeral march for electronic ticket sales
for several years. After all, whats the point in using a whole host of
individual services when you can go to the airlines own website to check
timetable and connection information, as well as book your tickets?
Theres method behind the madness, however, and the secrets in the
technology.
December 10, 2012
Alina Ukolova

Pyotr Kutis left the online travel agency Anywayanyday.com two years ago to start his own
travel website, which puts the emphasis on deeper analysis of flight information. The whole
thing should be as convenient as possible for the customer, Kutis says. On our site, the
customer can view all available flights, connections and connection times; they can find out
how long the aircraft has been in operation and even passenger legroom all on the one site.
Online customers these days arent just looking for a bargain, they want to combine the
cheapest flight available with the most comfortable and reliable airline.
Customers are looking to fly not only inexpensively, but also reliably, says Roman Surinov,
managing partner at online travel agency Agent.ru. Sure, you can save yourself a packet, but
as a result you might miss your connection, or perhaps not even fly at all.
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3/17/2015

OneTwoTrip: Flying smarter | Russia Beyond The Headlines

OneTwoTrip was originally set up with about $1 million startup capital from its founders. In
2012, the company succeeded in attracting investment from a number of funds, including
Atomico and Phenomen Ventures, who invested $16 million and $9 million, respectively.
OneTwoTrip plans to use the funding to develop the service, add new features, further the
brand, and finance expansion into new markets. Currently, OneTwoTrip sells around 4,000
tickets per day. This stacks up well against figures for longer-established players in the
market, such as Agent.ru and AWAD. Daily turnover is in excess of $1.3 million. By
comparison, just a year ago, the company was selling just 700 air tickets a day.
Kutis says the secret to the companys expansion lies in its
user-friendly service. The program checks flight availability
on 500 airlines around the world, identifies the best price
automatically, tells users the total journey time, and offers
statistics about flight delays. The company has also grown
due to the still-growing Russian travel market, which is
only just beginning to catch up with the rest of Europe.
Currently, only 15% of air tickets are booked online in
Russia, compared with roughly 50% in Western Europe.
According to figures from PhoCusWright, the market turnover in 2011 for online tourism was
$2.3 billion, and in 2012 the figure is expected to reach $4.5 billion, more than half of which
is attributable to plane tickets. The main factors driving the development of online tourism
right now are the expansion of the Internet, the ever-expanding reach of bank cards, and
lastly, a change in the way the population deals with payments, which is very pleasing
indeed, says German Klimenko, owner of Liveinternet.
As for price competition, the secret of low prices for online travel companies is simple. They
buy their tickets from airlines at special rates, which differ substantially from published fares.
There are private rates which are cheaper than those of the airlines themselves. A
spokesperson for Aeroflot said that airlines would be very unlikely not to partner with online
travel companies, because of the sales volumes they bring in.
The upcoming fight for a share of this growing pie will probably occur between companies
who can offer their clients everything they want in one virtual location. Thats why
OneTwoTrip is already preparing to offer a hotel booking service. And of course, their
competitors are all preparing to do the same. But competition in this market isnt just about
the choices on offer; it is also about functionality, speed, and new experiences for the user.
This is where OneTwoTrip has every opportunity to go from being a startup into a market
leader.

THE ESSENTIALS
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3/17/2015

OneTwoTrip: Flying smarter | Russia Beyond The Headlines

Name:

OneTwoTrip

Website: http://www.onetwotrip.com

Concept:

An easy and cheap way to buy air tickets from more than 500 airlines worldwide.
Unique selling point:

Service compares not just price but statistics on a flights past delays and cancellations, aircraft age,
and passenger legroom. There is also information on baggage allowances and the visa regime in the
destination country.
Founded:

May 2011
Financing:

OneTwoTrip is owned by a group of private investors, including Peter Kutis. In September 2012,
Onetwotrip raised $9 million from Phenomen Ventures, and in November 2012 Skype founders
venture capital firm Atomico invested $16 million.
Development plans:

In 2013 the website plans to launch a hotel booking service, sell unique insurance products for flight
passengers and rent a car service.
Founded:

May 2011
SWOT:
Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Opportunities:

Threats:

OneTwoTrip
has best
prices in the
market, a
unique IT
platform
and rapidly
growing
customer
base.

Traffic from metasearch is

still higher than direct sales
coming from e-tickets
metasearch systems
(Skyscanner;Aviasales.ruand
others).

Launch of new
services,development
of international
franchise (Europe
and CIS), increase in
volumes ofonline
travel market in
Russia (annual
growth over 70%),
increasing popularity
of the banking
services and ebanking.

Competing
websites
that can
offer the
same
service, and
airlines
who offer
more indepth
information
about their
own flights.

Contacts:

Global House, 5a Sandy`s Row, London E1 7HW, United Kingdom, +7 (910) 456-8766

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