Skyscanner widens its net with Zoombu deal

EDINBURGH-based flight comparison website Skyscanner has made its first acquisition, buying up Zoombu, an online door-to-door travel guide.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will allow the Scots firm to expand its services to include other forms of transport - in particular rail travel. Zoombu allows users to map out the quickest and cheapest mode of travel. It was launched in London last year by Rachel Armitage and Alistair Hann, who will move to Edinburgh to take up senior market development and technical roles with Skyscanner.

The cash and equity deal will only add "tens of thousands" of users to Skyscanner's existing tally of 10 million a year but co-founder Gareth Williams insisted it was a strategically important move for the company.

"Covering other travel options on the Skyscanner site is something we've wanted to do from the start, but air travel is a complex area and we wanted to get that right before expanding into other transport options. So Zoombu is an ideal fit for Skyscanner," he said. "Train travel is the immediate priority for us and we aim to launch this in the spring."

Skyscanner, which received backing from Scottish Equity Partners in 2007, is expected to have returned to profit in its last financial year, to May 2010, after falling 1.4 million into the red the previous year.