Kiwi.com

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Kiwi.com
FormerlySkyPicker.com
IndustryOnline travel agency
Founded2012
FounderOliver Dlouhý
HeadquartersBrno, Czech Republic
RevenueIncrease CZK 17.2 bn.[1] (2021)
−271,811,000 Czech koruna (2021) Edit this on Wikidata
Increase CZK -0.3 bn.[1] (2021)
Total assetsDecrease CZK 1.6 bn.[1] (2021)
Total equityDecrease CZK -0.9 bn.[1] (2021)
OwnerGeneral Atlantic (53.5 %)[2]
Oliver Dlouhý (22.4 %)[2]
Number of employees
1,700
Websitewww.kiwi.com/en/

Kiwi.com (previously known as skypicker.com) is an international online travel agency[3] founded by Oliver Dlouhý and Jozef Képesi in 2012 in Czechia. Kiwi.com provides a fare aggregator, metasearch engine and booking for airline tickets and ground transportation. Its ticket search features Kiwi.com’s "virtual interlining" concept – itineraries combined from over 750 carriers, including many that do not usually cooperate in online bookings.[4]

History

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The online portal SkyPicker.com was created in 2011. The company was founded in Brno by Oliver Dlouhý and Jozef Képesi. In 2016 the company acquired the domain name Kiwi.com for $800,000 and rebranded itself as Kiwi.com. Jiří Hlavenka was one of its first investors.[5] In 2017, Kiwi.com acquired a stake in Jaroslav Kokolus.[6] In 2018, Kiwi.com was included by Financial Times into the list of European firms with the top compound annual revenue growth in 2015-2018[7] and was titled ‘7th fastest growing company’ in EMEA according to Deloitte.[8]

As of June 2019, Kiwi.com’s main shareholder is General Atlantic.[9] Dlouhý and Képesi remain as major shareholders and continue to run the company.[10] Other shareholders are Touzimsky Airlines and Luboš Charčenko.[11]

On 14 January 2021, Southwest Airlines, American airline, sued Kiwi.com, alleging that its scraping of fare information from Southwest's website was a breach of contract and that Kiwi.com's use of Southwest's logo in its search results constituted trademark infringement.[12] In response, Kiwi.com removed Southwest's logo from its search results, but continued to sell Southwest tickets despite Southwest sending Kiwi.com a series of cease-and-desist demands.[13] In December 2021, a Texas court ruled that Kiwi.com is permanently prohibited from extracting information from Southwest's website and selling its tickets without authorization.[14]

In December 2022, Airasia partnered with Kiwi.com to transform the carrier into the ASEAN app for travel and lifestyle.[15][16]

In 2023, Kiwi.com partnered with Bratislava Airport to assist travelers in finding destinations starting from the Slovakian hub.[17]

Services

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In 2018, Kiwi.com launched NOMAD, a special multi-city travel search tool, and Tequila, a dedicated B2B platform.[18][clarification needed]

Along with its headquarters in Brno, Kiwi.com has offices in Prague (Czech Republic), Barcelona (Spain), Bratislava (Slovakia), Košice (Slovakia), London (United Kingdom) and Miami (USA).[19]

The company is presently one of the five biggest online air ticket sellers in Europe, with an annual turnover of approximately 1.1 billion euros in 2018.[20] The company booked around 12,000 traveler itineraries daily and employed 2000 workers during 2019.[21]

In 2022, Kiwi.com sold 50 billion CZK worth of tickets.[22][23]

In 2024, Ryanair entered into a partnership with booking platform Kiwi.com.[24][25]

COVID-19

[edit]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kiwi.com was criticized for charging customers for legally impossible flights, slow refunds, and poor customer service.[3][21][26][27][28] It faced backlash for not accounting for travel restrictions and charging extra for basic support, with limited help for unpaid users.[26][21] The Observer named Kiwi.com among the companies with the worst customer service during the first pandemic year.[28] Refund delays were blamed on airline policies and Kiwi’s non-standard booking model.[29]

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Kiwi has been criticized for its refund policies and its customer service practices.[30]

See also

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[edit]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Annual report of Kiwi.com s.r.o. for calendar year 2021
  2. ^ a b Company register at or.justice.cz, company ID 29352886, Kiwi.com s.r.o., Netherlands-registered General Atlantic PH11 B.V. owns 53.5 %, accessed 2019-10-10
  3. ^ a b Mzezewa, Tariro (3 April 2020). "Why Is Getting a Refund From an Online Travel Agency So Hard?". The New York Times.
  4. ^ "Kiwi.com in talks to raise funds for next leg of travel". Reuters. 23 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Inside Interview: Behind the $800,000 Purchase of Kiwi.com". NamePros.
  6. ^ Beránek, Jan. "HN: Brněnské Kiwi.com brzy přivítá nového investora". Lupa.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  7. ^ Kelly, Maxine (2020-03-02). "FT 1000: the fourth annual list of Europe's fastest-growing companies". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  8. ^ "Deloitte announced 2017 Technology Fast 500 EMEA ranking". Deloitte Lithuania. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  9. ^ Fox, Linda. "Kiwi.com takes big investment as General Atlantic becomes majority owner". PhocusWire. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  10. ^ "Hotovo. Kiwi.com patří americkému fondu, Dlouhý zůstává". Forbes. 3 June 2019.
  11. ^ "Veřejný rejstřík a Sbírka listin - Ministerstvo spravedlnosti České republiky". or.justice.cz. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  12. ^ Neuburger, Jeffrey D. (21 January 2021). "Southwest Airlines Sues to Stop Web Scraping of Fare Information". The National Law Review.
  13. ^ Silk, Robert (3 February 2021). "Facing lawsuit, OTA pulls Southwest logo -- but keeps selling its tickets". Travel Weekly.
  14. ^ Tabacco, Christina (29 December 2021). "Court Enters Permanent Injunction Against Kiwi.com in Southwest Airlines Data Scraping Case". Law Street.
  15. ^ "Airasia.com Transforms into Super App by Establishing Strategic Partnership with Kiwi.com". www.mzv.cz. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  16. ^ "airasia Super App now selling tickets on 700+ airlines to 3,000+ destinations". Japan Today. 2021-11-06. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  17. ^ "Kiwi.com makes Bratislava booking easier". www.airportsinternational.com. 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  18. ^ "Kiwi.com launches fully integrated booking tool for Tequila users". partners.kiwi.com. 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  19. ^ "Locations – Jobs at Kiwi.com". jobs.kiwi.com. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  20. ^ "Hádky kvůli prodeji Kiwi skončily, dospěl jsem, říká zakladatel Dlouhý a zahájil expanzi do Číny". Hospodářské Noviny.
  21. ^ a b c Thornber, Laura (11 December 2020). "Passenger 'blocked' from contacting flight booking site Kiwi.com after system glitch: 'I tried every mechanism I could to speak to someone'". Stuff.co.nz.
  22. ^ "ChatGPT může zlepšit zákaznickou zkušenost, říká šéf Kiwi Dlouhý". E15.cz (in Czech). 8 March 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  23. ^ Brejčák, Peter (2023-06-26). "Udělali jsme tlustou čáru za covidem, říká Oliver Dlouhý. Kiwi.com loni prodalo letenky za 50 miliard". CzechCrunch (in Czech). Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  24. ^ Times, The Brussels. "Ryanair signs agreement with booking platform Kiwi.com". www.brusselstimes.com. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  25. ^ Whitaker, Greg (2024-02-02). "Ryanair and Kiwi.com end 'period of friction' with OTA deal". Aviation Business News. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  26. ^ a b Thornber, Lorna (3 December 2020). "'Setting you up to fail': NZ couple issued 'impossible' flight itineraries by popular booking site Kiwi.com". Stuff.co.nz.
  27. ^ Ross, Eric (6 April 2021). "News 5 Investigates: Getting refunds after travel impacted by COVID-19". KOAA. Archived from the original on 2024-04-06. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  28. ^ a b Tims, Anna (27 December 2020). "In the year of Covid, the awards for worst customer service go to..." The Observer. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  29. ^ Tims, Anna (5 October 2020). "Airline passengers 'wait for refunds despite agents being repaid'". The Guardian.
  30. ^ "Kiwi.com, Inc. | Better Business Bureau® Profile". www.bbb.org. Retrieved 2021-04-16.