The company benefited from the growing interest in travel. In January, it announced the layoff of roughly 200 employees out of more than 1,200. CEO Oliver Dlouhý justified this at the time by saying that it was a necessary step if the company was to remain healthy and prosperous.
“Last year, there was an unprecedented increase in interest in travel, which also had a positive effect on the growth of global airline capacities. We seized this opportunity and in many ways managed to achieve record results such as filling 25 million seats on airplanes with customers from almost every country in the world,” said Dlouhý, who is also a co-founder of the company.
Kiwi.com founder Oliver Dlouhý
After a slump during the covid era and after criticism from a number of customers who dealt with the company to refund payments for canceled flights, the company is investing in the development of technology and improving the customer experience. It introduces new services and tries to speed up processes, for example, refunding customers.
At the same time, the company is trying to deepen cooperation with airlines. She managed to conclude one of the key agreements with the largest European low-cost airlines, Ryanair, thanks to which the companies stopped litigating each other and started working together.
“I believe that other agreements will come soon, which will lead to changes in our operation and support both our long-term goals and our value for shareholders,” said Dlouhý.
The company’s offer covers 95 percent of the world’s flight offer, and over 50,000 airplane seats are sold daily through its platforms. It was founded in 2012, and in 2019, the American investment fund General Atlantic, which today owns 53.5 percent of the shares, entered the company.
The company was struggling with a drop in demand and a drop in profit mainly due to restrictions on flying during the covid pandemic. In 2020, the loss amounted to a record one billion crowns, and the year before last it was almost half a billion crowns.
