Web Scraping Flight Data

As the world has now turned into a global village, traveling to any domestic or international destination by air is now easier than ever. Air connectivity has drastically improved over the years, making it easier for travelers to book flights for destinations that were not available a few years ago. The global aviation industry is expected to surpass a market value of $303 billion by 2026. 

With air travel expected to grow consistently, scraping flight data from popular online travel agency (OTA) websites can be an excellent way for related businesses to improve and grow. Web scraping solutions like ScrapeHero make the whole process of collecting flight data highly convenient and efficient. 

Why Scrape Flight Data?

Popular OTA platforms are used by millions of travelers for flight bookings. Whether you are a competing OTA website, a travel agent, or a travel planner, there are many different ways in which the data scraped from OTA portals can help. The data can be used to understand destinations popular among travelers, access the latest flight schedules, price range, details of new carriers and flights, and more. 

Here is a detailed overview of how scraping flight data can be used:

Enhanced Customer Orientation

Web scraping allows you to collect customer feedback and ratings from OTA platforms. Based on this information, you can also improve customer experience and offer the best options to boost your sales. This makes it an excellent opportunity for businesses related to aviation and travel to scrape flight data and uncover valuable insights into consumer trends and habits. 

Price Analysis

Air carriers now use complex algorithms and software solutions for adjusting flight prices in real-time based on demand and supply. A web scraping provider can deliver flight prices in real-time so that you can create a more accurate pricing structure for your customers. 

This data can be used to design custom tours and packages or create a pricing strategy that is better than what most other platforms are offering. 

Analyze Market Share

Analyzing scraped flight data will also provide in-depth information about the market share of various air carriers. For instance, if you are a travel aggregator, the market share analysis will help you select the right partners for your business. 

You can know more about the new flights being launched by various air carriers and benefit from the first-mover advantage by offering new products and services before your competitors.  

Resource Allocation

Let us assume that you’ve recently launched your travel portal or OTA website. The holiday season is around the corner, and you are expecting a surge in bookings. You can scrape historical data from popular OTA platforms to discover valuable insights into what you should expect during the holiday season or peak times. Based on this data, you can allocate your resources better to ensure that you are able to offer an excellent experience to all customers. 

Improve Your Marketing Strategy

All the feedback, price trends, traveler expectations, likes, and dislikes can be very valuable when you are working on your marketing strategy. You can focus on the weaknesses of your competitors to try and offer something better to the customers. 

Even if you are targeting flights to and from specific locations or targeting people from a particular region, ScrapeHero can create a custom solution for the best results. 

What Can Be Scraped from OTA Websites?

Here are some data fields that can be scraped from OTA platforms-

• Carrier Name
• Flight number
• Flight duration
• Total number of flights
• Total cost
• In-flight facilities
• Seating arrangement
• Airport information
• Number of stops
• Changes in flight schedule

You can target all these data fields or only collect data points most critical to your objectives. Web scraping services like ScrapeHero ensure that the data goes through multiple quality checks before being delivered. Some examples of using this data include:

Total Cost Data for Dynamic Pricing Strategies

Real-time price information can help you beat your competition when it comes to pricing. Stay ahead of the competition and garner the market share in price-sensitive markets using total cost data from the competition. Also, you can check pricing trends across various markets and times to decide on an effective as well as a dynamic pricing strategy.

In-Flight Facilities Data

Keep tabs on the in-flight facilities offered by various carriers across different sectors to ensure you have a competitive advantage in markets where price elasticity is low.

Getting an Industry Overview

If you are a new player in the industry, use these data points to understand the dynamics of the commercial aviation industry. A data-backed understanding of the market and trends across various sectors can help a new entrant decide on routes they want to focus on and effective pricing and marketing strategies.

Identify Opportunities for Direct Flights 

As a carrier, if you are looking to add more flights, data can help you identify routes where the number of stops is high. Direct flights in such sectors can be a business expansion opportunity worth exploring.

Web Scraping Flight Data to Boost Your Travel Business

New OTA platforms are launched regularly to benefit from the massive potential of online flight booking services. As this has made the OTA industry highly competitive, you should look for unique ways to improve your travel-related business. Web scraping is an effective way to give your business an edge over others.

By allowing you to customize your scraping operations, ScrapeHero can help you delve deeper into the operations of your competitors and top air carriers. The real-time scraped data will also keep you updated about the aviation industry trends and customer preferences so that you can modify your operations to reach more people and grow your business.