25-Apr-2016 – Pre-dates Cirium brand launch, Feb 2019. All references to FlightStats have been changed to Cirium.
FlightStats, now called Cirium, has been a longtime partner and data provider to dozens of companies throughout the travel ecosystem, supporting their vision of providing outstanding service and keeping travelers informed. Every day we help our customers improve their business and solve high-value problems.
When we first released our Flight Status APIs in 2005, the market for real-time flight data barely existed. Now, our company has made data that was once considered an afterthought a central part of the travel experience and we’re continuing to enhance our services with multiple data sets beyond flight data.
What has made us successful is not only the quality of our data but also the passion of our team and the relationship we have with our customers. We care about our work and the challenges we help tackle in all travel segments. As a company, we want to understand our customers better and figure out how to maximize the value of our services for them.
Recently, we sat down with Bayram Annakov, CEO of App in the Air and a Cirium customer, to discuss his experience using our services.
Our Relationship with App in the Air
App in the Air is a travel assistant app that helps travelers save time and reduce stress when traveling. Their main customers are business travelers who value time and would like to stay on top of flight changes that may affect their journey. App in the Air is currently powered by Cirium Flight Alerts API, Schedules & Connections API, and Trips API.
In June, App in the Air launched a Facebook Messenger chatbot (http://messenger.com/t/appintheair) powered by Cirium APIs. Users can now chat with their Messenger chatbot to check on the status of a flight rather than downloading the App in the Air app on their mobile device. They can also ask other questions about the flight such as “what am I allowed to bring on board?”
“Bayram and the team at App in the Air really work hard on the user experience, testing and retesting everything,” said David White, VP of Business Development at Cirium. “Their commitment to the quality of their service brought them to Cirium. The app and the team are truly impressive.”
Why App in the Air Chose Cirium
The challenge App in the Air was facing before working with Cirium was finding a real-time flight data provider with the best coverage worldwide that could support the app. They previously worked with other data service providers but their coverage was not as good as Cirium, especially in terms of gate information.
When searching for a data provider, App in the Air was looking for:
- The best coverage and real-time information.
- An easy onboarding process that included an evaluation period.
- REST APIs that were easy to work with as opposed to WSDL APIs.
Cirium managed to meet or exceed all of their criteria. Their transition into using our APIs went smoothly. We have maintained a positive relationship with them ever since.
“Cirium data is essential for our app to deliver key value,” said Annakov. “Our goal is to deliver real-time flight updates and have the best coverage worldwide. Cirium has been instrumental in achieving both these things for over four years.”
Results from Working with Cirium
Since implementing our services, App in the Air has experienced a boost in both users and reputation. According to Annakov, customers have named App in the Air the best flight tracker for the iPhone and it now has 2.2 million users. Annakov attributes part of their growth to the data that Cirium provides.
“The Cirium team, especially David White, is what makes Cirium stand out from competitors,” said Annakov. “They were really helpful on our journey, giving us the best support and rates when we expanded from tens of thousand users to millions.”
At Cirium, we strive to tell the “story” of a flight – from what’s expected, to what is happening now, to what happened – and we never act alone in accomplishing that mission. Customers like App in the Air play an essential role in delivering the right information at the right time to travelers through their app. We’re proud to provide services that help them save time and reduce stress for their users.
