skyscanner

{{Infobox company

| name = Skyscanner Ltd.

| logo = Skyscanner Logo LockupHorizontal SkyBlue RGB.svg

| type = Subsidiary

| industry = Travel

| founded = {{Start date and age|2002}}

| hq_location_city = Edinburgh, Scotland

| hq_location_country = United Kingdom

| parent = Trip.com Group

| founders = {{Unbulleted list|Gareth Williams|Barry Smith|Bonamy Grimes}}

| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|John Mangelaars (CEO)|Gareth Williams (chairperson)}}

| revenue = £261 million (2016){{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2019/10/04/skyscanner-soars-record-revenues-chinese-ownership/|title=Skyscanner soars to record revenues under Chinese ownership|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=4 October 2019|last1=Field|first1=Matthew}}

| num_employees = 1,200+ {{small | (2024)}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.skyscanner.net/about-us/our-people|title = United by a love of travel}}

| homepage = {{URL|https://www.skyscanner.net/|skyscanner.net}}

}}

Skyscanner Ltd. is a British search aggregator and travel agency based in Edinburgh, Scotland and operating since 2002.

History

The company was formed by three information technology professionals.{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sme/how-to-launch-a-great-business-346119.html | title=How to launch a great business | last=Trapp | first=Roger | work=The Independent | date=18 February 2006}} The Edinburgh office was opened in 2004.{{cite web |title=In pictures: inside Skyscanner's head office |url=https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/in-pictures-inside-skyscanners-head-office-884900#:~:text=The%20first%20office%20opened%20in%20Edinburgh%20in%202004 |website=Edinburgh Evening News |access-date=14 November 2023}}

In 2009, the year after SEP invested in the business, Skyscanner reported its first profit.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-35289861|title=Travel firm secures major investment|date=2016-01-12|work=BBC News|access-date=2020-04-21|language=en-GB}}

In 2011, Skyscanner acquired Zoombu.{{cite news | url=https://techcrunch.com/2011/01/17/travel-search-engine-skyscanner-acquires-zoombu/ | title=Travel search engine Skyscanner acquires Zoombu | last=Butcher | first=Mike | work=TechCrunch | date=17 January 2011}} Skyscanner opened an office in Singapore in September 2011, which is headquarters for its Asia-Pacific operations.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-13919093 | title=Skyscanner to set up operation in Singapore | date=26 June 2011 | work=BBC News}} In 2012, a Beijing office was added, as Skyscanner began a partnership with Baidu, China's largest search engine.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-13919093 | title=Skyscanner lands China search engine deal | date=23 August 2012 | work=BBC News}}

By 2013, the company employed over 180 people.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-21318799 | title=Flight firm Skyscanner moves in to America | date=4 February 2012 | work=BBC News}} In February 2013, Skyscanner announced plans to open a United States base in Miami. In October 2013, Sequoia Capital purchased an interest in Skyscanner that valued the company at $800 million.{{cite web | url=https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/skyscanner-valued-at-800m-by-backer-of-apple-8855825.html | title=Skyscanner valued at $800m by backer of Apple | work=The Evening Standard | date=3 October 2013}} In June 2014, Skyscanner acquired Youbibi, a travel search engine company based in Shenzhen, China.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-28014913 | title=Skyscanner buys Chinese metasearch firm Youbibi | work=BBC News | date=25 June 2014}}

By February 2015, the company employed 600 people, double the employment of 18 months earlier.{{cite web | first=Jon | last=Russell | url=https://www.ft.com/content/4320fe10-b53d-11e4-8362-00144feab7de | title=Skyscanner optimistic as revenue growth slows | work=Financial Times | date=23 February 2015}}

In January 2016, the company raised $192 million based on a $1.6 billion valuation for the company.{{cite news | url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/12/skyscanner-unicorn/ | title=Travel Search Site Skyscanner Raises $192M For International Expansion | first=Catherine | last=Shu | work=TechCrunch | date=12 January 2016}}

In November 2016, a Chinese company Trip.com Group (formerly Ctrip) bought Skyscanner for $1.75 billion.{{cite web | first=Mure | last=Dickie | url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/23/ctrip-skyscanner/ | title=China's Ctrip is buying flight search company SkyScanner for $1.74 billion. | work=TechCrunch | date=23 November 2016}} Following the sale to Ctrip, Skyscanner's largest shareholder, SEP, completed its exit from the business.{{Cite web|url=https://www.growthbusiness.co.uk/scottis-equity-partners-exits-skyscanner-2549053/|title=Scottish Equity Partners exits Skyscanner following £1.4 billion sale|date=2016-12-09|website=Growth Business|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-21}}

In 2017, Ctrip bought the Trip.com domain and launched Trip.com. The original platform became a subsidiary of Skyscanner.{{Cite news | url=https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-app-tripcom-acquired-by-china-ctrip-2017-11 | title=Tiny startup Trip.com has been acquired by Chinese travel giant Ctrip – a move that could shake up the travel industry | first=Julie | last=Bort | work=Business Insider | date=1 November 2017}}

In 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced that it would lay off 300 employees (20% of its staff). It was likely to close two offices in Budapest, Hungary and Sofia, Bulgaria.{{Cite web |last=Rafiah |first=Moshe |date=14 July 2020 |title=A Skyscanner update |url=https://www.skyscanner.net/company-news/a-skyscanner-update |website=Skyscanner}}

In May 2025, the company announced the appointment of Bryan Batista, its chief operations officer, as its new chief executive replacing John Mangelaars.{{Cite web |title=Skyscanner |url=https://www.skyscanner.net/sttc/px/captcha-v2/index.html?url=L25ld3MvYnJ5YW4tYmF0aXN0YS1iZWNvbWVzLWNlby1hdC1za3lzY2FubmVyPw==&uuid=a14e1ce3-3293-11f0-a3b7-61f58a1dda83&vid= |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=www.skyscanner.net}} Batista will take up the role from 1 June 2025.