Silverjetis the first UK airline to
introduce awebsite for handheld devicesto enable
customers to view and amend travel information.
The mobile web site, which allows users to book flights, check
flight status, select seats, choose meals and check airport maps
and information using a mobile phone or PDA, is the latest move in
the business class-only airline's strategy to use technology to
challenge established brands.
It was developed in partnership with Dublin-based
mobile software
company Mobile Travel Technologies.
Previous technology innovations at the airline include
Silverjet's wireless system to accelerate the boarding process
by
capturing passport details ahead of arrival at the airport and
its multi-channel contact management system, which was the first in
the industry to combine voice, fax, efax, email and text
messaging.
Customers entering the airline's main website address in their
mobile browsers will be redirected automatically to the mobile
website, which has been designed to recognise a wide range of
mobile devices with GPRS capability and optimise content
accordingly.
George Henderson, IT director at Silverjet, said, "the launch of
Silverjet Mobile is a response to a clear demand for mobile travel
services and will enable customers to make and manage bookings at
times that suit them."
Forrester Research has shown that 36% of business travellers
use mobile internet services for work, with 47% requesting the
benefits mobile technology can offer airline passengers.
Henderson said appropriate measures had been adopted to protect
personal data
in accordance with UK data protection guidelines.
"For
credit card details, the mobile web site uses the latest
security software, which ensures that all transactions are
processed securely, with information transmitted as separate chunks
of encoded data," he said.