Internet Portal Development for Russia's Largest Domestic Airline

The Customer

S7 Airlines (a Sibir Airlines brand) has the largest route network within Russia and makes regular flights to CIS countries, Europe, Near East, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. S7 Airlines as well as Globus Airline, S7 Tour (international travel agency), S7 Ticket (a retail chain for sales of tickets and travel tours), and number of other companies is part of S7 Group. S7 Airlines is a member of oneworld© global aviation alliance, world leader in providing quality services to passengers. The alliance unites such worldwide recognized airlines as American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, etc. Together oneworld© members offer travellers a lot more services and advantages than each of the airlines individually.

The Challenge

In 2005, market pressure on the air transportation industry grew, and S7 Airlines was faced with a challenge of cutting costs while extending ticket selling options, and attracting new customers. S7 Airlines decided to develop and implement a full-featured Internet portal that provided both individual and corporate customers with ticket sales and a range of other online services. While more common in many other regions, this project was among the first of its kind in Russia.

The Solution

The Customer turned to EPAM Systems to have their portal (www.s7.ru) developed, while SITA - the global provider of telecommunication and IT services for the air transport industry - acted as the online booking system provider. The first release of the portal offered the core set of the services most demanded by passengers: the ability to view flight schedules and chose a flight, and the ability to buy tickets online using a bank card.  

After the success of that initial offering S7 decided to implement a even more flexible eCommerce platform (Sabre Airline Solutions’ QuickTrip system), to enhance the website interface and expand the number of rendered services. EPAM helped here with the implementation as well.

In partnership with EPAM, S7 has extended the portal to include the following services:

• Searching and selecting flights and fares (including the option to combine S7 Airlines flights with the ones offered by their airline partners)
• Online bookings and ticket purchasing using bank cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club, JCB) and web payment  systems (Yandex.Money) or QIWI-payments
• Web check-in, having a boarding card sent to a mobile phone, e-mail or being directly printed from the website
• Online Arrival/Departure board indicating the flight status
• SMS notifications on flight status, checking-in start, flight schedule, actual fares and Arrival/Departure time
• S7 Priority Loyalty Program for frequent flyers, a member’s personal page for ordering bonus air tickets, upgrading tickets to a higher class, viewing and changing data on collected miles, adding fellow travellers, etc
• Specials offers: hotel accommodations search and reservation(provided via global Hotel Reservation Service - HRS), car rental (the service of Avis Europe plc), ticket purchase for high-speed “Aeroexpress” trains, running between Moscow airports and railway stations
• Quick search for airlines’ agencies and ticket offices in a required region (using Google Maps)
• Useful information for passengers varying from data on carriage terms and airports to current and forecasted weather conditions
  

Moreover, the portal has been implemented with built-in advanced marketing tools (via the EPAM Marketing Engine), that provide features like targeted banner ads (including geo targeting), special offers and online marketing campaigns.

Security was also a paramount concern in the development of this portal. Advanced SSL encryption (Secure Sockets Layer) was used to secure personal data used on the system, and to provide extra protection for cardholders, the portal deploys a 3DSecureinternationalpayment system technology.

For travelers, having a solution that they can use on the road is vital. EPAM developed a mobile version of the portal, including a specific implementation for the iPhone as well. This now allows S7 Airlines’ customers to check in online (for example, on the way to the airport), get updates on a flight’s status promptly, etc.

Technologies and Tools

• XML-technologies: EPAMCMS, XSD/XSLT, XSL-FO, JAX-WS, JAXB
• Web-technologies: HTML/DHTML (JavaScript, AJAX, JSON, JQuery), JSP, JavaStruts2
• Apache HTTP Server, Apache Tomcat
  

The Results

With the “go-live” of S7’s new internet portal, passenger traffic on the airline has increased. The portal allowed the Customer to reduce ticket selling costs, while increasing the income from value-added services. There was also a step up in strengthening customers’ loyalty by offering new easy-to-use services (quick information search, selecting an appropriate fare, 24/7 ticket buying option, choosing a suitable method of payment, booking management, saving information on customers preferences and fellow travellers etc.).