South African airline Mango has become the first domestic carrier to offer an App on the Apple platform. Mango plans to make the App, which is available from the App Store, across most other mobile platforms during the next couple of months. In October last year Mango launched the first airline mobi-site with a booking functionality in the country.
Users will be able to book, pay, change flights, receive updated airline communication and participate in promotions among others functions. An information wallet will also allow users to store generic travel detail for future ease-of-use.
“In line with our strategy to make air travel more accessible to South Africans, we have added mobile platforms to our already extensive distribution channel bouquet,’ says CEO Nico Bezuidenhout. Mango has the widest distribution and payment network in the domestic aviation industry.
“The response to the launch of our mobi-site last year indicated the growing need for mobile accessibility,’ continues Bezuidenhout. “With the exceptionally high penetration of mobile technology in South Africa as well as an increase in bandwidth and the proliferation of ancillary devices such as tablets, we anticipate access by a new market segment of approximately four million new customers.’
Since the launch of its mobi-site, Mango has logged in excess of 30 000 flight queries via the platform. Currently usage via Apple platforms dominates device types used, ranking at 60% of enquiry volume.
Bezuidenhout says that Mango will continue to invest substantially in technology as it has over the past 24 months with further plans afoot to launch additional innovative products and services.
