British Airways’ launch of OpenSkies presented a unique opportunity to counter the prevailing public perception of airline ambivalence towards passengers. An opportunity OpenSkies have capitalized on through innovative use of social media and community marketing – working with Web Liquid to develop and launch a corporate blog and engaging travel community influencers directly to spread word of mouth.

The new airline was built on the premise of personalized service with only 64 passengers on each plane, two spacious cabins including fully flat beds in business class and 24/7 concierge services that go well beyond what people expect from an airline today.

Long before they started flying OpenSkies embraced its future passengers. Even before there was a plane painted in OpenSkies livery, Managing Director Dale Moss launched a blog to share the progress of OpenSkies’ development. Through this unique dialogue the traveling public was able to engage with travelers and hear what they thought about the airline’s plans. More importantly Dale and the management team incorporated much of that feedback into the creation of the OpenSkies experience. This passenger-centric ethos of OpenSkies was immediately apparent, generating a lot of buzz amongst the premium and business travel community.

Through blog posts Dale introduced people to OpenSkies, recruited flight attendants, unveiled cabin classes, shared a time-lapse video of the painting of the first plane, discussed the meal service, shared the experience of the inaugural flight and more.

It was during the inaugural flight that OpenSkies literally welcomed social media onboard. 20 members of the influential Flyertalk.com community were invited to fly OpenSkies in Biz and PREM+ roundtrip to Paris for a long weekend. They were encouraged to try every aspect of the experience from the time they booked at flyopenskies.com, scheduled events and activities with the Concierge and enjoyed the comfort and services in flight.

The results of OpenSkies’ blogging and social media marketing have been impressive:

Incremental bookings and a higher rate of conversion amongst those reached by OpenSkies community efforts