Skyscanner Deal Is Starting to Work Out For Ctrip
Photo Credit: At Skyscanner's Edinburgh, Scotland headquarters, some of the company's 900 employees gather at various times. The company is experiencing steady growth under its new owner, Ctrip. Skyscanner
Skift Take
Skyscanner is boosting Ctrip's margins, and Skyscanner's new instant booking service shows promise as a way to propel future growth.
It's becoming apparent that Ctrip's acquisition of Skyscanner, the flight-search engine, is beginning to pay off.
Ctrip reported Thursday that its second quarter transportation ticketing revenue, including from flights, was $441.3 million, up 46 percent from the same quarter a year earlier. However, Ctrip only acquired Skyscanner in December.
While Skyscanner also offers hotels and other travel products, most of its revenue comes selling airplane tickets -- hence the importance of the transportation ticketing revenue figure.
Gross margin was 82 percent for the second quarter of 2017, improving from 72 percent for the same quarter of 2016. Chief executive Jane Sun said one key reason driving the improved margin is because of the Skyscanner acquisition.
As a referral marketplace, Skyscanner doesn't have the cost associated with
