Skyscanner has launched a new solution within its travel insight business intelligence tool aimed at identifying untapped demand for new direct flight services.

With the pandemic rendering data from last virtually irrelevant, the new tool will help airlines and airports leverage forward looking search and intent data to predict demand and identify new and more profitable route opportunities.

The ‘Unserved Routes’ module provides a first-of-its-kind data segmentation for the global aviation sector, combining flight schedule data with traveller demand insights.

Unlike other data sources which focus on historic or completed bookings for route planning and yield management, Skyscanner’s solution allows airlines and airports to forecast ahead and understand forward looking demand to restart or create new non-stop services up to 12 months into the future.

Analysis of each route includes search and redirect volumes, average fare prices and conversion rates, with the ability to filter by travel month.

Selected unserved routes for the EMEA market, according to Skyscanner, include Dublin to Las Vegas, Amsterdam to Bali and Kiev Zhuliany to Istanbul.

Michael Docherty, lead for data products at Skyscanner, commented: “With signs of recovery on the horizon, we’re unlocking even more of Skyscanner’s unrivalled demand data to help our partners across the aviation sector understand evolving traveller needs.

“Covid-19 has exposed the limitations of historical data for route planning and management as well as the need to make smarter, faster decisions.

“Our new Unserved Routes module has been designed with airlines and airports in mind, allowing them to forecast daily market demand, build business cases for restarting certain direct routes or even expanding into new ones.”