the american company Uber seeks to expand its offer of services in the app by adding the possibility of booking flight tickets, train trips and buses from the same place, as announced by the Financial Times. In this way, the company is taking the form of , by evolving into a space of comprehensive solutions for the user. Although, in principle, this option will be available only for the British market.
The idea was already being studied by Dara Khosrowshahi, executive director of the firm, but was postponed due to the pandemic.
The new service attempts to provide a “perfect door-to-door experience”, according to Jamie Heywood, regional general manager for Uber, Northern and Eastern Europe. To do this, the company plans to integrate its software with airlines, intercity train and bus operators (including Eurostar Channel Tunnel) and car rental companies.
The integration will be tested first in the UK
The UK is one of the strongest markets for Uber in the world outside of the US, so it will be there that this new modality will be tested before it is rolled out more widely in other international markets.
From the company they hope that these new additions of means of transport will serve as a boost for more customers to use their extensive network of drivers to move between transit centers. This will also increase the amount of booking commissions.
“Uber has been able to book rides, bikes, boat services and scooters on the app for a number of years, so adding trains and coaches it’s a natural progression«, declared Jamie Heywood. “Later this year we have in mind to incorporate flights and, in the future, hotels, all this through the integration of leading partners to create a door-to-door travel experience.”
A commitment to the flight sector
Before the emergence of the coronavirus, about 15% of Uber rides went to airportsso the company hopes that the integration of both flight booking and ticketing will drive these higher-margin trips. “With the COVID-19 pandemic behind us, with this great push towards new modes of transport, we want to indicate that this is a very important growth lever for us in the coming years”Heywood said.
It is not yet clear to what extent Uber will seek to compete with other online travel booking platforms, such as Expediaa platform on which Khosrowshahi worked before assuming his current position as CEO.
Photo: Reuters
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