How a publishing company became the leading global aviation data and analytics company, helping to change the way we fly.
It began in 1909 as the first printed magazine related to aviation—at the very dawn of aviation. Today, Cirium has evolved to become the world’s leading aviation data and analytics company. Cirium now provides data insights to over 95% of the world’s top 50 airline groups.
Those data insights are found in The Cirium Core—the largest and most comprehensive single source of such data in the airline industry. The Cirium Core contains thousands of sources and millions of pieces of data from every corner of the aviation and travel industry: real-time tracking of how an aircraft is used, what flights operated between city pairs (or were delayed or canceled) or even the dollar value of a particular tail number. (Indeed, Cirium values some $5.3 trillion worth of aircraft, annually). Never before has so much information been accessible to business decision makers in aviation.
Cirium’s aggressive aim is to free the data in the air travel industry that has historically been held in silos, to drive efficiencies and innovation not only for the network of businesses such as airlines, but for travelers.
“We’ve digitally transformed the company, foreseeing what the aviation and air travel markets needed,” said Cirium’s CEO, Jeremy Bowen of Cirium’s transformation from publishing to data and analytics.
“The business went from being 80% publishing in 2006, to 100% data and analytics in 2019. The Cirium brand itself is actually relatively new—two years old this month—as we had to reinvent our position in the market.”
Jeremy Bowen, CEO, Cirium
“But we have a long pedigree in understanding this market and what our customers’ demand,” he said.
“Our focus on fusing data—and the technology to access and analyze the data—over the past two years was extremely well-timed to help the industry understand the impact of COVID-19,” he said.
“We just hope that with our support, businesses have weathered the storm far better than without us, and will emerge stronger.”
Cirium is continuing to invest in its capabilities and most recently launched a new cloud-based solution called Cirium Sky. The solution brings the exact data from the Cirium Core that a client needs in real-time and can integrate it with a client’s data. For example, Cirium Sky enables airlines to better manage flight disruption—resulting in a more stress-free travel experience for passengers and operators alike.
The company has proven success with automated data management solutions through the acquisition and integration of Snowflake Software. For instance, that firm delivered a high-profile project called IATA Turbulence Aware, the world’s first global solution to the problems of in-flight turbulence. The software enables an aircraft to rapidly share incidence of in-flight rough air to the ground and then onward to aircraft following behind. It’s real-time and global in scope.
Cirium is now taking this concept of a real-time, cloud-based data management platform to airline operations. The data science and operational teams within airlines can connect to Cirium Sky to extract key operational insights to inform decision making and enable accurate competitive benchmarking. For instance, it might allow an operations team to deploy one aircraft over another for a particular flight, based on its financing profile and operating costs, and even environmental footprint.
“There is heightened focus and pressure on airlines now to achieve fuel efficiencies with the industry goal of halving C02 emissions by 2050,” said Bowen. “One way airlines can accelerate reaching this goal is by looking at excess carbon output from delay-time spent in-flight or fuel consumption spent on the runway.”
Cirium is also expanding its portfolio for airline planning and demand forecasting. It recently launched an international version of its dominant US flight schedules tool, known as Cirium Diio Mi, which will solve numerous struggles felt by airports globally—such as expansion planning.
In addition, Cirium will introduce new artificial intelligence methods using predictive capabilities to inform better revenue management, especially as the legacy airline revenue management model is irrelevant as a result of the pandemic.
“COVID-19 has shaken the market and now is the time to adopt well-needed innovation in air transport,” Bowen said.
”Relying on historical trends for predicting travel demand is no longer comparable without more advanced predictive capabilities. This is another example of what Cirium sees as digital transformation. The data adds value and reshapes legacy processes to drive a better future of air travel. ”
