Clickair is upgrading its business travel offering with a raft of new initiatives designed to smooth the booking and journey experience.
Despite vehemently asserting its adherence to a single class cabin, it appears that the Spanish carrier is slowly moving towards a de factor business offer - albeit one that does not come with a separating curtain.
Business travellers now have the option to pay for the middle seat on the first three rows of Clickair's Airbus A320 aircraft for a ”30 ($43) supplement, while other improvements are on the way as the airline's CEO, Alex Cruz, told ABTN.
"This week, after you have made a booking on Clickair and selected your seat [online] you will receive a reminder by email to ask if you want to upgrade. We are not thinking about either a fixed or variable business class with a curtain, but we are considering what else we can do for a premium service.
"The next step could be that instead of charging ”30 for an extra seat, we charge ”40 ($58) for the extra seat plus catering."
Cruz maintains however, that his primary concern is not to add cost or complexity, but he is equally anxious not to lose out on premium services that could prove highly lucrative, for example providing a fast track facility through airports.
Clickair is also targeting business travel agencies in a bid to woo the premium customer onto its network and is particularly optimistic that its new click&fly option - allowing passengers to check in and print boarding passes up to six months before travel - will persuade many to opt for the Spanish airline.
"Right now, the key to success is all about being realistic, especially with escalating fuel prices," said Cruz. "Even so, we expect to show a 60% increase in overall passenger growth this year with the planned new routes we have and other destinations such as Malta, Dubrovnik and Moscow that we are re-introducing this summer."
This week will also see Clickair receive its 23rd A320 from Toulouse with extra aircraft potentially in the pipeline should demand warrant it.