Skyscanner hails Microsoft Travel Search as its ‘most significant’ white label to date

Edinburgh-based metasearch firm Skyscanner has agreed a deal for its technology to power Microsoft Travel’s flight search facility.

Pictured: Skyscanner’s Hugh Aitken

Edinburgh-based metasearch firm Skyscanner has agreed a deal for its technology to power Microsoft Travel’s flight search facility.

Replacing Kayak, Skyscanner now powers the search on the MSN Travel homepage in 31 markets including the UK, the US, France and Hong Kong.

The deal follows the establishment two years ago of the company’s B2B division and the development of its White Label platform for integrating Skyscanner flight search into other brands’ websites.

Hugh Aitken, director of business development at Skyscanner, said the Microsoft partnership is the “most significant” the company’s business services division has done to date.

“This is a global deal for us and very important. A lot of development work has gone into it.

“It has been a long process, with a dedicated team working on it, and a couple of years since first contact.

“Ultimately our aim is the power the travel internet.”

Mr Aitken said the majority of the development work on the project had been done in Edinburgh with support from Skyscanner’s Singapore office.

The Skyscanner for Business White Label product allowed MSN to customise its flight search with MSN branding.

Customers can “search for their best itinerary options” and book flights in 17 languages.TripAdvisor currently provides hotel search tools within MSN Travel.

The MSN agreement will bring the number of Skyscanner White Labels to 60, including Lonely Planet, Groupon, and Secret Escapes.

A total of 300 partners are powered through the Skyscanner for Business suite of products.