Uber Hopes UK Airline Bookings Will Speed Super App Takeoff

Uber has reportedly added flight bookings in the U.K. to fuel its super app ambitions.

The changes let customers in Great Britain schedule full journeys via several forms of transportation, the Financial Times reported Wednesday (May 10).

According to the report, Uber has begun offering the tool for booking domestic and international flights to U.K. customers, with plans to expand it throughout the country in the weeks ahead.

Speaking to the FT, Andrew Brem, Uber’s U.K. general manager, said the launch is “the latest and most ambitious step” in the firm’s plan to turn its core ride-booking business into a broader platform for travel booking.

The company has already begun offering domestic train, Eurostar and coach ticket bookings in the U.K. — something Brem said was “incredibly popular” with travelers. He said the service had grown 40% month over month since debuting last year but did not say how many tickets had been sold.

The report says Uber is working with travel booking company Hopper to sell flights, and plans to take a small commission from every sale. By adding flights, Uber can direct more users to its main ride-booking operation.

“We hope to build our core business,” Brem told the FT, adding that Uber hopes to expand bookings on other forms of transit but had “no firm plans” currently.

PYMNTS reported late last year that Uber had expanded Uber Travel to 10,000 cities, making the service available in all major cities in Canada and the U.S. The offering organizes users’ hotel, flight and restaurant reservations by linking travel plans from their Google, Outlook or Hotmail email accounts.

The company also expanded its Uber Charter service to more than 20 U.S. cities, allowing users to book a party bus, coach bus or passenger van through its app or website.

More recently Uber brought its travel feature to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with a launch of the service in Egypt.

As noted here earlier this year in a report contrasting Uber and rival Lyft, research shows a substantial percentage of consumers would love to take advantage of super apps that combine a range of daily activities through a single hub, and Uber’s cross-selling demonstrates proof of that appeal.