Its websites publish flight prices, and compare prices from suppliers, including major airlines, through tiny travel agents.[1]
Agents advertise on the Cheapflights websites and are charged on a pay-per-click basis for users who link through to their websites.[2]
History
Cheapflights was founded in 1996 by John Hatt.[3] That year, its first website, www.cheapflights.co.uk, launched.[4] In 2000, ex-ABN Amro banker David Soskin and Hugo Burge led a buyout of the website from its founder.[3][5][6] The website was the first in the UK to launch the pay-per-clickonline advertising remuneration model.[4]
In May 2003, the US website, www.cheapflights.com, was launched.[4] In 2006, the website handled £1 billion in annual travel sales.[7] In April 2007, the Canadian website, www.cheapflights.ca, was launched.[4] In October 2008, the first non-English website, www.cheapflug.de, was launched.[4] Co-founder David Soskin resigned as chief executive to become vice-chairman that same year.[3] In 2009, the Australia / New Zealand website was launched.[8]
In January 2011, the company launched mobile websites.[9] In March 2011, the company acquired momondo, a rival online travel agency.[10][11] The two websites and brands were kept independent of each other.[12] It also discontinued Zugu.[13] In October 2014, Great Hill Partners, a private-equity firm, invested £80m for a majority stake in the company that owned Cheapflights and momondo, valuing it at £132 million.[14][15] In February 2015, the South African website was launched.[16] In June 2015, the United Kingdom website was launched as a metasearch engine.[17] In June 2016, Cheapflights added search capability within Facebook Messenger.[18] In October, Cheapflights reorganized some of its staff.[19] In July 2017, Cheapflights and momondo were acquired by Booking Holdings for $550 million.[20]
