Top ten airlines generate as much as 46% of sales from ancillary revenue

DUBLIN, IRELAND & SHOREWOOD, WISCONSIN, USA - Every year IdeaWorksCompany searches for disclosures of financial results which qualify as ancillary revenue for airlines all over the globe. Annual reports, investor presentations, financial press releases, and quotes attributed to senior executives all qualify as sources in the data collection process.

These results are contained in the new report, 2016 Top 10 Airline Ancillary Revenue Rankings. Of the 138 airlines reviewed, 66 reveal figures related to ancillary revenue. The following is a sampling of the 2016 financial year results found in the report:

• Back in 2007 the top ten airlines, as rated by total ancillary revenue, generated $2.1 billion. Fast forward to 2016 and the top ten tally has leapt to more than $28 billion.
• Top “% of revenue” producers by global regions: Wizzair 39.4% (Europe & Russia), Spirit 46.4% (Americas), and Hong Kong Express 24% (Asia & South Pacific).*
• United MileagePlus generated $3+ billion from the sale of frequent flyer miles (mostly to its bank co-brand partner) which equals $21.11 per passenger.
• Top “ancillary revenue per passenger,” mostly from a la carte activities, by global regions: Jet2.com $42.46 (Europe & Russia), Spirit $49.89 (Americas), and AirAsia X $34.41 (Asia & South Pacific).* 

“Airlines that want to grow their ancillary revenue need to adapt to their customer’s behaviour. The online car rental market is expected to grow at a 9.3% CAGR between 2016-2020 with mobile sales for car rental showing the most significant growth at 24.2% CAGR (Source: Euromonitor). Airlines need to be sourcing the right technology and providing their customers with ancillary products where, and when, they are open to purchasing them,” Aileen O’Mahony, CCO CarTrawler.

The results for all the 66 disclosing airlines will be released in September 2017 as the annual CarTrawler Yearbook of Ancillary Revenue by IdeaWorksCompany.

* Carriers from the Middle East and Africa did not rank in the top 10 ancillary revenue lists.