Airline app downloads spike as travel advertising rises

By AdNews | 1 September 2022
 
Getty Images/Creatas RF

Downloads of airline apps have surged as Australians take to the skies again, according to market intelligence company, Sensor Tower.

A huge spike was recorded in June, with only 63% of Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar flights arriving on time.

This continued into July as many headed overseas to escape winter.

Qantas is the most downloaded app, followed by Virgin Australia and Jetstar. 

Analysing time spent in each app, the majority of Australian airlines have seen up to a 17% increase in average daily time.

The daily average time spent in the Qantas app has returned to where it was at the start of the year, but grew considerably in April when Australia’s aviation chaos began.

Pathmatics data, one of Sensor Tower’s platforms, shows domestic airlines are still spending big on advertising, encouraging consumers to travel:

travel ad spend - Sensor Tower

Tom Cui, MD APAC at Sensor Tower says: “The 2022 travel season is in full swing in Australia after two consecutive years of COVID-related disruptions. Sensor Tower data has revealed a huge increase in app downloads and an increasing amount of time spent in these apps as consumers flock back to airports.

“Perhaps more notable is that active users for major airlines such as Qantas Airways and Virgin Australia have recently surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Despite this surge in demand however, airlines have had to deal with a troublesome mix of pent-up travel demand with uneven resources and labour shortages. This has led to an unprecedented number of flight cancellations and delays for many Aussies.

“Ongoing weather-related events aren’t helping the situation either and we’re regularly reminded of the chaos with consumers posting videos of queues snaking out of check in terminals.

“Those airline apps with a user-friendly experience will be best placed to help brands bounce back from Australia’s airline crisis, further easing the burden on staff and regaining the trust of consumers.

“We expect the Christmas holiday period to be a busy one this year and at Sensor Tower we’ll be keeping our finger on the pulse of these aviation brands to reveal consumer trends.”

airline app downloads - Sensor Tower - aug 2022

sensor tower - airline apps

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