Skyscanner has released a suite of new product innovations designed to make travel planning easier and more budget-friendly, including AI-powered destination discovery, a road trip planner and expanded flight tracking.
Bryan Batista, Skyscanner CEO, said the company was focused on building tools that helped travellers plan and book with confidence.
“We’re experimenting with how AI can make every stage of the journey simpler and more intuitive, from discovering new destinations to road trip planning. By combining our deep travel expertise with the latest technology, our goal is to support travellers in making confident decisions and creating trips that are right for them,” Mr Batista said.
The new Explore with AI tool, available on Skyscanner’s website, allows travellers to describe what they are looking for in natural language rather than entering specific dates and destinations. A search such as “help me find cheap flights to Japan in December” generates personalised recommendations with side-by-side destination comparisons including flight pricing, weather, duration and AI-generated insights such as “September is typically 24% cheaper than December.” Early testing found 60 per cent of travellers clicked through to view flight options generated through the tool.
The new Road Trip Planner creates personalised itineraries based on pick-up location, travel dates and preferred journey style, from scenic routes and cultural exploration to adventure trips and relaxing getaways, while recommending the best car hire options to match.
The popular DROPS feature, which highlights price drops of 20 per cent or more in the past seven days, has also been expanded to surface up to 822 per cent more deals per day. A new Flight Tracker adds real-time information on departures, arrivals, gates, terminals and baggage belt details.
