From Russia to Tasmania – Interview with Nikita Kirgintsev

Meet Nikita Kirgintsev, a member of Hobart Travel Massive and founder of AirHex – provider of UI essentials for online travel businesses.

Nikita is an entrepreneur with 10 years experience in the online travel industry and 14 years in e-commerce. He is also a founder of the flight meta search Specavia (acquired by Aviasales) and co-author of Jetradar meta search and OTA (Online Travel Agent).

We asked Nikita about AirHex and his entrepreneurial journey to Tasmania.

How did you get in to the travel industry?

It all started after my first visit to Thailand when I was 19. Like many others, I was hooked and fell in love with the country. I was flying there three to four times per year and in order to save some money, I was spending an hour almost every single day looking for special airline offers.

At some point, I realized that the work I do might be useful to other travelers. I started a blog with special flight deals. A couple of years later, the first OTA appeared on the Russian market and I got involved in affiliate marketing.

I realized that there was an opportunity to monetize a blog and extend a user experience, so blog readers can purchase tickets through my blog and I can earn a commission.

Then a few more OTAs came to the market. After comparing their results, I realized that the prices and fares for the same flight might differ between the OTAs. So I built a system that compares prices between OTAs and that’s how a hobby blog evolved into a travel meta search engine business.

What is AirHex and what gave you the idea to create it?

AirHex is the company that provides a set of data and graphic essentials for online travel businesses. It provides daily updated airline logos, manually verified airline and location coding directories, and extra content that improves the user experience on websites and mobile apps.

During my previous work on multiple travel projects, we always struggled with getting airline logos for a specific design layout, in specific dimensions and proportions ratios. We found it hard to keep an eye on logo changes and struggled with the inconsistency and quality of commercially available airline and location coding databases.

Even after a purchase of official coding directories, you have to spend hundreds of hours to verify and edit database entries in order to adjust it for your requirements and wipe out unnecessary information. And you have to do it again after getting annual updates.

There were no ready-to-use sets of airline logos and coding directories and so I saw it as an opportunity to start a new business in B2B.

What’s the biggest challenge moving from B2C travel to B2B?

Marketing and a sales process – there are only a few thousand flight-focused travel companies in the world so the market is very small and reaching them is not as easy as four billion airline passengers.

Standard B2C marketing approaches such as PPC and affiliate don’t work the same way in B2B as they works with consumers.

Products are also more complex than just airline tickets. B2B customers want to make sure that it meets most of their requirements before getting on board.

You’ve just moved to Hobart. How do you describe Tasmania to your Russian friends?

The best place in the world – I really enjoy it. The climate is exactly what I have been looking for in the last 12 years – not that hot, not that cold, just about right.

People are very nice and kind. Almost every house in Hobart has a magnificent view.

Looking onto the Derwent river inspires me every day.

What’s a travel business that is changing the world that you admire, and why?

Kiwi.com. They are great and right now they are doing a revolution in the industry with their interlines and recently announced arrangements with some airports. Companies that provide subscription-based flights also seem promising.

Connect with Nikita on Travel Massive and LinkedIn to learn more about his projects.