Comments on: Text2Fly: Flight Schedules by SMS in Nigeria

By: BROWN CHARLES

BROWN CHARLES — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:33:09 +0000

Sure this is a great idea view from any angle, it could be improved upon just like any other human endavor, after all ‘Rome was not build in a day.

By: sokari

sokari — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:29:47 +0000

BE useful if someone can develop this for other countries as well eg here in UK

By: sokari

sokari — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:16:28 +0000

This looks great but why do we have to SMS a UK number?

By: WeLove

WeLove — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:38:27 +0000

@Timi: Thanks for your reply. You are right that its a solution designed for a different market but the Text2Fly solution could used some of Traveas functionalities to empower it even more, for instance constant updates in case a flight from Lagos to Abuja is delayed or so. I will be following you to see how you developed further.

By: Timi Agama (Text2Fly CEO)

Timi Agama (Text2Fly CEO) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:02:28 +0000

@WeLove – Actually Traveas is not the same thing as Text2Fly. Firstly, with Traveas you must book via a travel agent. Virtually nobody does that for domestic Nigerian flights. Secondly, there is no way to search for flight schedules by SMS. Traveas does interesting stuff, but it solves a different problem for a different market.

By: WeLove

WeLove — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:14:45 +0000

There is actually a commercial Swedish service doing the same thing and they have plans of expanding the service to other regions. They cover 90% of all world’s flights and the service is both available online and via SMS. Find it at http://www.traveas.com

By: Loy Okezie

Loy Okezie — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:54:03 +0000

@Timi – “I’d argue that mobile is where the African tech entrepreneur needs to concentrate.”

Nice one. I’ve always argued that Nigerian start-ups should leverage on the mobile subscriber base, if they are to create a meaningful and valuable impact.

See link: http://www.startupsnigeria.com/2009/05/can-any-nigerian-social-network-stop-the-facebook-surge/

By: Timi Agama (Text2Fly CEO)

Timi Agama (Text2Fly CEO) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:48:19 +0000

Thanks for a great write up Hash. You raise an interesting question.

I’m curious as to why the service is only available via SMS…
Text2Fly is SMS-based because that’s how we can offer a genuine upgrade in user convenience.

Consider the travelling businessperson’s lifestyle in Nigeria.

The Internet is slow in Nigeria. I would even argue that it’s not that reliable. SMS, on the other hand, is generally fast and reliable.

Meetings often start later than planned, run late and are changed unexpectedly. It is also not uncommon to spend an indefinite amount of time waiting to see a senior public sector official. Culturally that’s just the way things are. So the best time for your return flight is often a moving target.

That’s why having access to travel information on your mobile phone is more convenient than having it on the computer.

Another issue is that from a growth standpoint Text2Fly would like to move beyond servicing the core business traveller to helping leisure travellers too. This market has limited access to the Internet.

Finally, I’d argue that mobile is where the African tech entrepreneur needs to concentrate. It’s a much larger market than desktop. If there are any additional revenue streams to be tapped as a result of Text2Fly I’m convinced that the mobile is where they will be.