A new company is being set up by British Airways’ owned AIRMILES to help companies develop and manage existing or new loyalty programmes.
The Mileage Company will run AIRMILES and also take responsibility of BA Miles, which frequent flyers collect as members of the carrier’s Executive Club.
The new business will also seek to run other frequent flyer and leisure reward programmes for UK and airlines worldwide and brands.
AIRMILES’ managing director, Andrew Swaffield said: “The Mileage Company launch comes at a time when brands most need compelling customer reward programmes to weather the economic storm and safeguard their customer base.
“As consumers look to cut spending by shopping around for the best deals, brand loyalty comes under threat.
“Reward programmes satisfy consumers’ desire to get a real return on their money thereby making them want to stay loyal to the brand.
“With two decades of experience analysing customer behaviour and building brand loyalty, The Mileage Company team is able to get new programmes up and running quickly and seamlessly, or take over the management of existing programmes, allowing businesses to focus on their core operations.”
The BA subsidiary is chaired by the airline’s director of strategy and business units, Robert Boyle, who said: “The Mileage Company gives an airline like BA the opportunity to maximise the financial return from our frequent flyer programme whilst ensuring world leading customer benefits and rewards.
“Mileage sales are a growth opportunity for carriers particularly when seat revenues are depressed and there are more empty seats to fill.”
by Phil Davies
