Airlines face complex challenges related to financial management.
The industry is prone to revenue leakage, complex income streams, as well as tax reporting and compliance across a number of different markets.
Financial management is one area of the airline industry that is in need of innovation.
A new report published today says that there is a ‘window of opportunity’ for companies in the industry to boost top-and bottom-line by increasing automation, integrating financial processes, and exploiting predictive analytics.
Revenues for a medium-sized airline could be boosted by as much as $1.5 million per annum through greater integration of financial processes.
The report highlights how accepting new methods of payment, such as Bitcoin, is now imperative for airlines to remain competitive.
In addition, Blockchain technology offers airlines with a single, secure, and transparent global ledger.
A total of $500 million could be saved annually through interline settlement improvements.
“In certain circumstances, airlines today may not even be able to know the exact revenue numbers for a specific flight,” said Alexander Michael, Director, Digital Transformation at Frost & Sullivan, the author of the report.
“It is imperative that airlines now focus on integrating and streamlining financial processes, not only to eliminate revenue leakage and other inefficiencies, but also so they can benefit from predictive analysis, becoming truly customer-centric and improving the top and bottom lines.”
Patricia Simillon, Head of Strategic Marketing in Airline IT at Amadeus, said:
”This report reveals a significant opportunity for airlines.
“Streamlining financial processes will enable airlines to achieve optimization and efficiency. This is a strategic priority for us at Amadeus and we are committed to working with our airline partners to transform the industry’s approach to financial management.”
‘Optimization’ refers to making something the best it can possibly be.
