Arabnet Arabnet

Cairo, 30 December 2014 – Travelstart Egypt announced today the launch of its flight-booking app for smartphones and tablets, available for free on both Android and iOS devices. With the new app users can look for airline ticket prices, then book and pay for flights in real-time. The app launches only a month after the Flynas app.

The launch of Travelstart’s flight-booking app comes at a time when tablet and smartphone user penetration is at its highest to date in Egypt. A report by the National Telecom Regulatory Authority shows that mobile internet penetration grew 47%^* in 2014, and the trend is expected to continue growing forward.

Now let’s take a look inside the app:

At first glance on my iPhone 5s, the app looks simple and easy on the eye, similarly to what the Travelstart website looks like, except more minimalistic. Enter the city you wish to travel from, and the city you wish to go to, then set the dates and the number of travelers and you’ll get all options available that apply to your conditions.

The home button at the bottom, along with the T&C and FAQ button currently all lead to the home page, should be a minor bug as the app was just released.

Swipe down a little bit and you can even pick which airline you prefer, along with cabin class, and you can even check out travel offers at the bottom, though these look like advertisements that target travelers.

The menu button at the top right allows users to also look at hotels they can book, and cars they can rent at their desired travel location, making this app work for its users as a travel assistant would. In these screens you can zoom in and out, though I recommend using these screens while holding the phone sideways (in landscape mode), as the text is too small for holding your phone straight (portrait mode). Though this shouldn’t be much of an issue with bigger phones.

Ahmed Saadeddine, Country Manager of Travelstart Egypt said: “There is a paradigm shift in the way Egyptians are communicating and buying online. We are seeing history in the making, and businesses like Travelstart have to be ready for this transformation. The launch of our new m-commerce app allows us to remain at the forefront of the online travel market in the region by meeting the needs of our discerned and tech-savvy customers.”

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