The Companies (Miscellaneous) Reporting Regulations 2018 introduced a new statutory reporting requirement for financial reporting years beginning on or after 1 January 2019. As a result, the directors of Skyscanner Holdings Limited and Skyscanner Limited are required to give a statement that describes how the directors have had regard to the matters set out in section 172(1) of the Companies Act 2006 when discharging their duty to promote the success of the company.
The directors acknowledge and understand their duties and responsibilities, including that, under section 172 of the Companies Act 2006, a director of a company must act in a way they consider, in good faith, would be most likely to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole, and in doing so have regard (amongst other matters) to:
- the likely consequences of any decision in the long-term;
- the interests of the company’s employees;
- the need to foster the company’s business relationships with partners, travellers and others;
- the impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment;
- the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct; and
- the need to act fairly between members of the company.
There were no principal decisions made in the year. The directors consider principal decisions to be those that are material and have a significant impact on stakeholders. Overall, the directors take decisions in line with the three year plan and associated medium and long term aspirations for growth, and ensure the potential impacts of decisions are understood and considered. Skyscanner’s ‘Traveller First’ value is at the core of all decisions and drives the company’s mission to help travellers plan and book their trip with ease and confidence. The directors, both individually and together as a board, consider that the decisions taken during the year ending 31 December 2023 were in conformance with their duty under section 172 of the Companies Act 2006. The board is assisted in considering key stakeholders as part of the decision-making process by including stakeholder considerations in board papers as appropriate, and board papers are carefully reviewed and considered by directors.
The successful delivery of the company’s strategy requires the company to conduct business in a manner that benefits travellers and protects the company’s trusted marketplace reputation, while continuing to deliver shareholder value and prudently managing risks inherent in the travel business. In setting and updating this strategy, the directors’ duties under section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 have been considered.
The directors strongly believe that effective and meaningful engagement with colleagues, travellers, partners and suppliers and other stakeholders is key to achieving the company’s vision to help travellers explore the world effortlessly for generations to come, and as a result ensure the long-term success of the company. Details of the company’s key stakeholders and how it engages with them are set out below:
Employees
The company can deliver its strategy only if it recruits, trains, and retains the best employees and develops a flexible, motivated, efficient, diverse and engaged team. The directors actively seek employee input on matters that impact employees and the performance of the company, as well as encouraging responses as part of the company’s annual engagement survey, the results of which are cascaded to individual teams and form the basis of strategic action plans. Business and performance updates are circulated frequently to all employees, and colleagues are encouraged to ask direct questions of the management team at regular town hall internal briefings. Employees benefit from a broad range of staff benefits, including the ability to participate in Skyscanner group-wide incentive and share options programmes that are linked to the company’s performance.
Partners and Suppliers
The board actively fosters strong supplier relationships, insisting that all partners are treated fairly and ethically. The company aims to maintain long-term relationships with its partners, with an internal department dedicated to managing partner services. The company has open, constructive and effective relationships with all suppliers and meets regularly with material suppliers to provide both parties with the opportunity to give feedback on successes, challenges and future roadmap. Payment policies, practice and performance are reported through the Government’s Payment Practices Reporting portal.
Travellers
Understanding travellers’ changing needs and behaviours helps the company to achieve its traveller first vision. Trust is always important to travellers and the company endeavours to uphold the trust placed in it, measuring traveller trust and other traveller engagement metrics with regular surveys, market research and interaction across social media channels. Travellers continue to place high importance on value for money and a seamless experience throughout the booking process. There is also a growing trend in ethical and sustainability concerns being a factor in traveller choices.
Communities and the Environment
The company’s vision is to help every traveller explore the world effortlessly for generations to come. The company is committed to making a positive contribution to the communities within which it operates, including through payment of taxes, charitable donations and activities, reducing its environmental impact and creating employment opportunities. To make progress on environmental issues, the company recognises the need for cross section and industry co-operation and is involved in several initiatives to this effect. The company buys sustainable aviation fuel to offset some of its corporate travel emissions, having been a founding partner of the Board Now program with SkyNRG to support the development of more sustainable aviation fuel supply in the Netherlands. Skyscanner also signed the Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism in 2021 and published its first Climate Action Plan, publicly reporting its emissions, in June 2023. The company has publicly set a goal to reach net zero by 2045 at the latest. The company’s pioneering work to provide emissions data on search results to show which flights emit less than typical emissions for that route has helped more than 246 million travellers globally, and through the company’s work with the Travalyst organisation, now includes an industry-standard emissions calculation methodology that has been adopted widely across consumer-facing platforms.
Government and Regulators
Governments and regulators play a central role in shaping the industry. The company engages with governments and regulators directly and through trade associations, responding to issues of concern and providing expertise to support policy development. The company has a dedicated Public Affairs team who lead with proactive and reactive engagement, principally in the United Kingdom, European Union and North America.
