EasyJet taking social media seriously as Facebook booking engine comes a step closer

Will EasyJet be the first low cost carrier to offer full booking facilities on a major social network? It appears so after confirmation that it is considering such a facility for Facebook.

The European carrier has had some success using Twitter for customer service (through @easyjetcare) and has the obligatory Facebook fan page, but is looking at developing a fully functioning search and booking engine for social networks.

Such a service may not be too difficult to put together in terms of placement and overall social media strategy as EasyJet says the most likely method will be by plugging in a search and booking system into its existing Holiday Planner app, a function attached to its current fan page.

The Holiday Planner tool allows users to select destinations, dates, view flight deals and invite Facebook friends to join the itinerary for a particular trip.

Any flight search and booking at the moment is carried out back on the main EasyJet website which users get to by following a link.

EasyJet has no further details and says it is a function on the table, although the fact that it is speaking about it for the first time means planning must be reasonably advanced.

The mechanics of putting a fully functioning engine into the Facebook API may be more difficult than first appears.

EasyJet currently has a simple search widget on its homepage, but the results and subsequent confirmation, insurance, luggage and passenger detail pages are often Ajax-driven and use a lot of design real estate.

Nevertheless, EasyJet’s now stated intention to take social media seriously as a booking mechanism as well as customer relationship tool is in stark contrast to bitter rival Ryanair.

Last week the Dublin-based carrier dismissed suggestions it was to start engaging in social media (after angrily dismissing it for years), opting instead for a section its site to allow customers to review destinations and hotels.