Company

Airline industry veterans and tech entrepreneurs Stephen Bartlett-Bragg and John Edginton first met through the travel industry in Australia in the 90s - a time when travel was elite, aspirational and luxurious. They embarked on their first combined business venture in 2000, the development of a proprietary Internet Booking Engine (IBE) called Quiktrip that was eventually sold to U.S. tech giant Sabre in 2008.

Over the past three decades they have witnessed major transformations take place across the industry, owing to major changes both internal and external - the privatisation of Qantas, deregulation across the industry, the collapse of Ansett, the 2009 Global Financial Crisis and more recently, the prolific introduction of a number of low-cost carriers, making travel more accessible and affordable.

Unfortunately these monumental changes, combined with the underlying systems that drive the complex logistics, administration and customer servicing required to effectively and efficiently operate an airline, have not kept pace with technology, providing opportunities to improve and innovate.

Established in 2017, East2 and the concept for E3 was born out of the combined passion, curiosity and lived experience of Stephen and John, who had been observing the way in which archaic legacy systems and complex infrastructures were limiting the potential of loyalty programs in this space. Most importantly, they noticed how these programs - put in place to recognise and reward - were actually starting to alienate the very people whom they were designed to benefit, the consumers.

General efforts made by the airline industry to upgrade and improve these systems were incremental at best, and did little to address the overall problem head on. As new technologies started to gain traction, it became apparent that these could offer a much-needed solution that was both practical (to implement and scale) and beneficial (commercially and reputationally) to all parties - airline, traveller and ancillary vendors or supply partner.

With E3 having taken close to 5 years in research and development, the product will go to market this year with the first implementation to take place in 2023 in partnership with Cyprus Airways. With a number of subsequent rollouts planned and other opportunities in the pipeline, it is an exciting time for East2, who look forward to reinvigorating travel, and providing the ultimate customer experience.

Whilst the foundations of East2 and inspiration behind E3 lie in the travel industry, and more specifically the plight of airlines, this is only a starting point, with several more applications for the product identified across different lifestyle and special interest verticals that have a responsibility toward their community.