Driving Revenue Through an Optimized Digital Channel

How Air Europa optimized its digital channel to safely expand its flight routes and become a global player

Business impact
  • 15% increase in approval rate
  • 95% decrease in chargeback rate
  • $$ double digit online revenue growth

Meet Air Europa

Air Europa was founded in 1986 as one of the first private airlines in Spain. By 1993, they flew the first domestic flight operated by a private airline in Spain. In 1995, Air Europe offered their first international flight between Madrid and London, and a year later they were crossing the Atlantic with flights to New York. Over the years, the company has expanded to markets on five continents.

Being part of the Globalia Group – a wide business network that incorporates travel service providers and various agencies – Air Europa relied on group agents to sell airline tickets. In 2016, a decision was made to transform the digital channel into a simple and independent revenue generator. The website and the app were optimized, and the backend was revamped accordingly.

Riskified
Yago Casasnovas

Head of Payments, Fraud Prevention & eCommerce

To transform our digital operations, we needed to think about how to handle fraud efficiently. Keeping it simple was paramount, especially while growing as an airline.

The Challenge

The rewards for Air Europa’s investments were immediate. They noticed a significant revenue boost from digital sales, which complemented overall growth that included new routes, a new fleet of airplanes, and a growing customer base. But, as it often does, quick growth made Air Europa a target for fraud, which resulted in higher chargeback rates.

Air Europa went on Visa’s chargeback program, which mandated tighter risk controls and led to more costly false declines and lower approval rates. To maintain its progress, Air Europa’s digital operations needed to scale with their ambitions, and their system needed to be brought back into balance.

People walking in an airport
Riskified
Yago Casasnovas

Head of Payments, Fraud Prevention & eCommerce

We saw results from our new investments quickly. With Riskified, the customer experience in new markets was made frictionless.

The Solution

Air Europa chose Riskified for its chargeback guarantee and higher approval rates and to allow its operations to function more efficiently. But the company was also looking for more than just a solution; it was looking for a system that could run on autopilot – helping them scale flexibly from day one without requiring additional input from the Air Europa team.

Riskified took away the burden of rule-based fraud analysis with a solution that supports growth and anticipates future challenges. Through higher approval rates, a major reduction in chargebacks, and the elimination of manual review, Air Europa could comfortably expand its flight routes, generate additional revenue from new markets and change its mindset from that of a local flyer to a global player.

A woman standing next to a suitcase
Results
More Revenue, Better CX

More Revenue, Better CX

15% increase in approval rates

  • Double-digit online growth
  • Reduced customer insult rates
Future-Proofing Operations

Future-Proofing Operations

$0 spent on manual review

  • Resources allocated to revenue-generating tasks
  • Clumsy system replaced by precision fraud analysis
Safe Global Expansion

Safe Global Expansion

95% reduction in chargeback rate

  • Better standing with the payment partners
Growth at Its Full Potential

Growth at Its Full Potential

$$ double-digit online growth

  • No more leaks in the purchase funnel
Riskified
Yago Casasnovas

Head of Payments, Fraud Prevention & eCommerce

By reducing chargebacks and increasing approval rates, Riskified has helped us magnify our growth and allowed us to keep our focus on greater expansion.

Riskified helps global retailers realize their full ecommerce potential

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