Airlines need to look beyond the business of flying to make more money, according to research by Amadeus.
The new report, Travel Gold Rush 2020, looks at where economic opportunities lie ten years from now - what travellers will be willing to pay for and what they won't.
Speaking to ABTN, Eddie Ross, director of corporate marketing for Amadeus, said ancillary sales offered limited scope for airlines to improve turnover, but it doesn't stop there.
Ross suggested travellers were willing to pay for smoother, more seamless travel, going beyond what airlines currently offer.
Travellers wanted the same system that allowed them to change their flight, hotel or re-order a taxi, said Ross.
"The fact that they're all owned by different people is not their problem, but I think it becomes their problem."
He said the focus in future would be to link up each stage of a trip.
"There's a terriffic opportunity to improve the overall travel experience," he said. "We're pretty convinced there's gold, it's just a question of who will find it."
"It might be an airline that pioneers an application of technology to improve the way people go from their airline to their car or train. It might be the train company that does it the other way around, but who ever does is likely to be in a good position."
The report suggested this could be taken a stage further, with airlines investing more in airports, trains, and even in video conferencing, using their brand as high-speed transport and communications providers to leverage future growth.
These possibilites went beyond ancillary sales, which, said Ross, have only limited potential for future growth, especially on long-haul flights.
"People are ready to pay for things they believe bring them more value or differentiates their experience," he said. "People don't like paying for things they think they ought to be getting anyway."
The report also suggested business class travel may lose out to economy class.
Ross said: "Airlines are going to have to work harder to be very sure that the business traveller feels that it's worth paying more.
"The fact that you get some food and a curtain separating you from other travellers on a two-hour flight may not be enough to pay five times the price, and they [the airlines] may need to be clever about what they're doing."
The concept of cabin classes may even evolve, the report said. Gold Rush 2020 suggested there may be up to 20 different classes in the future, depending on passenger demands, such as an experience suited to a lone traveller or a family.
Business travel itself, however, is here to stay, despite the rise of video conferencing during the recession, he said
"People want to travel, people want to see the guy across the table that they're doing a big deal with," Ross said. "Technology is incredibly powerful, but it supports human interaction and doesn't replace it."
www.amadeus.com