The TravelMole Interview: David Soskin, cheapflights.co.uk

Cheapflights.co.uk will achieve one million unique users for the first time this month, according to its chief executive David Soskin (left).

This will be a significant milestone for the site which despite launching in 1996 – aeons ago in internet terms – has spent a mere £500,000 on advertising during its lifespan and has just 18 staff on its payroll.

According to Mr Soskin the site is successful because it is based on a sound proposition. Unlike other travel sites, Cheapflights is basically a media company which provides a web space where travel suppliers and other websites advertise their deals allowing consumers to easily compare prices. Advertisers include big names such as British Airway and Thomas Cook as well as specialists such as Turkish Travel Centre and Journey Latin America.

Users interested in a particular offer either click on a hyperlink which takes them to the supplier’s site or telephone them direct – which is when Cheapflights gets paid. Explains Mr Soskin: “We get paid on a performance basis, the more clicks you get the more you pay.”

Mr Soskin points out that “unlike other travel sites we have been profitable from day one.” He says that while “everyone and their dog wants to run a travel website,” many – such as utravel and dreamticket – have tried and failed. And of those that are still around he says: “You have to ask the question how many [travel websites] are making a return on investment? I’m talking about real money, not at an operational level.”

He believes that sister accommodation site Cheapnights.com, which is about to be relaunched as a deals-led site rather than a list of suppliers, will be able to replicate the original’s success.

And international expansion is also on the cards. A US launch looks likely within the next six months – the company also owns the domain name Cheapflights.com.

Mr Soskin claims that Cheapflights can afford further expansion without having to sell-out to a bigger concern or look to a stock market flotation. He says: “Of course we get approaches but because we are profitable we don’t have to sell. We can use our own money on better technology or recruiting new people.”

He adds: “We don’t need to float. It’s such an appalling situation [on the stock market] at the moment that many companies who were planning to float have pulled back at the last moment. If we do, it will have to be in the right market conditions, which we think will be a couple of years away.”

*See the TravelMole review of the Cheapflights site.

See previous TravelMole Interviews:

09-Jul-2002: Bruce Bishins, Genesis TDS
01-Jul-02: Howard Frost, Travelink
25-Jun-02: Rob Wortham, RWA
17-Jun-02: Paul Blackney, Worldspan
11-Jun-02: Mark Jones, Online Travel Corporation
27-May-02: Oliver Hillel, UNEP
20-May-02: Keith Webber, Telewest
13-May-02: Mark O’Brien, Rosenbluth International
07-May-02: Alicia Gardner, Sabre
29-Apr-02: Carolyn Ezzell, Delta Air Lines
23-Apr-02: John Davis, Pegasus Solutions
15-Apr-02: Gregory Hunt, ABTA Arbitration Scheme
09-Apr-02: Stuart Winter, Atinera
03-Apr-02: Roberto Da Re, Dolphin Dynamics
26-Mar-02: Arnaud Debuchy, Amadeus
19-Mar-02: Helen Baker, Lastminute.com
12-Mar-02: Pat Minogue, Galileo
07-Mar-02: Jon Hart, MyTravel
28-Feb-02: Lawrence Hunt, Rapid Travel Solutions