If you got free cancellation on your botched travel plans during Covid, way to go! However, the free cancellation policy has not been such a joyride for airport shuttle companies, like Jayride (ASX: JAY), which had to offer refunds and suffer losses.

Jayride is an online travel marketplace for airport transfers, i.e. your shuttles and all that jazz. It allows travellers to compare and book ride services, and is present in over 100 countries across the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. So when the pandemic hit and travel grinded to a halt, it was no wonder that fewer people globally took to Jayride’s services.

Now however, all the pent-up desire to travel has returned in full force, driving demand for shuttle services. For Jayride, passenger trip bookings have increased by 103% on Q3 FY22 to 153,000 in Q3 FY23. The revenue from these bookings amounted to $1.4 million, as the refund rate—after very long—improved to 18%, after reaching 26% in Q3 FY22. Even so, its net revenue per trip has declined from $8.02 in Q4 FY22 to $7.57 now. 

The Company hopes that its recent investments in brand refresh, price optimization in Asian markets, acquisition of AirportShuttles.com, and multilingual launch are set to deliver returns in peak season, will offset the decline.

As the summer vacay season approaches worldwide, Managing Director, Rod Bishop, is geared up for the upcoming growth in bookings. 

He said, “Northern Hemisphere markets are our largest markets accounting for over two thirds of Jayride’s trips, and the Northern Hemisphere summer peak season from March-July is set to accelerate our growth. We closed Q3 strongly with passenger trips booked growing to record high (61K trips in March, 734K trips run rate). Revenue also grew to record high ($475K in March, $5.7M revenue run rate). Trading built through the month and by the end of March, the last two weeks of trading averaged 16,550 trips per week (861K trips run rate).”

March is just the start of summer in Europe, and the Company expects people to get packing and booking, thus further boosting its Q4 financials—as is typical of this quarter.

According to Bishop, growth in Q4 in previous years is an indication of its seasonal growth potential. In the fourth quarters of FY21 and FY22, Jayride grew trips +81% from Q3 into Q4, driven by Northern Hemisphere summer peak season and reopenings. This year, it is set to catch the same tailwinds. 

Jayride has a Europe Growth Hub that is fully operational, and its optimisation for Asian destination reopening continues. If last year’s 81% growth is repeated, Jayride will be able to surpass its goal of 1 million trips. 

Bishop affirms, “Q4 promises to be the largest quarter in Jayride’s history.”

After a long and somewhat painful wait (owing to the refunds), Jayride finally seems to be bouncing back.