Ad solutions help airline significantly boost ticket sales

How avianca attracted international travelers and boosted its market share for strategic routes

Overview

As the largest airline in Colombia, avianca has a fleet of approximately 130 aircraft that fly to more than 75 destinations across Colombia, Latin America, and Europe. avianca connects US travelers to Latin America from cities like New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and more. 

Recognized for its punctuality, avianca earned accolades for being the most on-time global airline in 2023, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.* The airline appeals to a variety of travelers, including those looking for flight deals or who want to benefit from the loyalty program.  

To welcome a wider audience, avianca acts on the belief that the sky belongs to everyone, without exception. That means they prioritize easier, simpler travel experiences for their passengers and work to eliminate barriers to air travel. They do this by improving their website accessibility and proactively asking for feedback throughout the year. 

For Flight Sponsored Listings, it’s crucial that the copy lets us highlight our unique qualities. We emphasize being the most on-time airline of 2023 to help customers choose avianca over the competition.

Janice Martinez, Account Manager, avianca 

The Opportunity

avianca is well known in Latin America and is one of the largest carriers in the region, but they needed a partnership and advertising solutions to raise brand awareness and upsell their offerings in markets like the US and Europe. 

“Our main goal is to attract customers who don’t know avianca, such as tourists, international travelers, and those driven by price or loyalty to other programs,” Martinez said. “We achieve this through advertising with online travel agencies and generating incremental revenue that we didn’t have before.”  

With an existing partnership and years of collaboration, avianca turned to Expedia Group to figure out which solutions and strategies would help them reach their goals.  

The Solution

The airline’s digital media expert helped them develop a full-funnel approach to reach travelers at every stage of their journey, promote their offerings, and maintain visibility across our extensive traveler network.  

avianca leveraged Flights Sponsored Listings to ensure their flights appeared prominently in search results targeting strategic routes from US points of sale to Central and South America. This solution featured tailored ads that captured the attention of high-intent travelers who were ready to book. 

Along with Flights Sponsored Listings, avianca ran on- and off-site display ads to build brand awareness and stay top of mind with travelers at critical moments throughout their path to purchase.  

avianca was also part of a co-op campaign, which lets airlines stretch their budget and work with destinations, hotels, and more in a joint advertising effort. Plus, co-op campaigns can run at the same time as Flights Sponsored Listings to drive maximum impact.  

“We always have a campaign live with Expedia Group. You know your brand, you’re innovative, you know how to promote it, and you know what partnerships we need,” Martinez said. 

The Results

avianca significantly boosted their market share and ticket sales for strategic routes where Flights Sponsored Listings were running. Comparing the first half of 2023 to the first half of 2024, avianca experienced a 13.5 percentage point share shift and successfully captured market share from their competitors.  

“Flight Sponsored Listings are fantastic for conversion. You can’t compare avianca’s brand awareness with Expedia in the US and European markets, so we like to take advantage of that in our partnership,” Martinez said.  

Expedia Group gives us a combined reach across upper, middle, and lower funnel with Flight Sponsored Listings, response banners, and branding. I love the co-op campaigns with hotels and tourism boards. They’re a great way to put the destination out there and highlight our products,

Janice Martinez, Account Manager, avianca 

The campaign drove 21.6 million impressions from the on- and off-site display ads. The ads helped ensure maximum brand awareness that kept the airline top of mind. During the same period, the full-funnel strategy effectively drove conversions, and avianca saw a 64% increase in ticket sales. 

If you’ve identified a gap in your bookings that you want to address, connect with our digital media experts to get help with media planning, campaign monitoring, reporting, and more. Get in touch with us today.