Travel and tourism are one of the expansive business sectors that are dominating the digital economy. With the rise of online flight ticket booking app platforms, the travel process has become much more convenient as individuals can now easily plan their trips and take tours.
White-label or customized flight booking apps provide customers an integrated reservations portal, easy access to traveler profiles, and on-demand itineraries. Furthermore, they offer users a comprehensive and convenient platform to access their required services.
In addition to offering a seamless flight booking route, the app allows their companies to post news and information about their policies, ensuring that customers are kept up to date with the latest developments.
According to a survey, the launch of flight booking applications has resulted in an 80% inflation in flight ticket bookings, making it one of the most lucrative options for entrepreneurs and enterprises to invest in.
Online travel booking applications aim to be a one-stop destination for multiple users worldwide to plan and book their travels. The industry is expected to witness a market share of $833 billion by 2025. Thus, now is the right time to hire one of the dedicated aviation consulting firms that can help you design a robust flight booking app and gain instant traction in this ever-growing ecosystem.
This blog will help you understand everything related to the cost of developing a flight booking app in 2023 and the various factors affecting the same.
Comprehending the cost to develop a flight booking app in 2023
To give you a brief idea, the cost of developing a flight booking app varies from $35,000 to $200,000. Several factors highly impact the overall cost of development, such as the app development agency’s location, the app’s UI/UX design, its development process, the underlying platform, maintenance requirements, etc.
Now, let us try and offer you a dedicated formula to determine the cost of a flight booking app
Cost of flight booking app= number of development hours x hourly rate of development
Here the number of development hours features the total timeframe to complete the app’s wireframe, design, coding, quality assurance, maintenance, etc.
On the other hand, the hourly rate of development is the charges taken for developing your app hourly.
Now that you have a dedicated formula to determine the cost of your app, let us move ahead and discuss the various factors that affect the overall budget.
Factors affecting the flight booking app development cost
App complexity
The overall complexity of the flight booking app is the major deciding factor that affects its budget. For instance, a highly complex app with a dedicated feature set will cost you more than a simple app with minimal features. Here is the breakdown of app development costs as per the overall complexity.
| Flight Booking App Type | Estimated average cost of development | Time Frame |
| Simple App | $35,000 to $60,000 | 3 to 6 months |
| Moderately Complex App | $60,000 to $100,000 | 6 to 8 months |
| Highly Complex App | $100,000 to $200,000 | 9+ months |
UI/UX design of the app
The success of an app in the market is directly impacted by a well-defined UI/UX design. To ensure the design is robust, the development team must conduct multiple testing procedures for the prototype, which can impact the overall development cost. Furthermore, it is vital to understand that a well-defined UI/UX design is essential for the success of an app in the market.
Factors that affect the UI/UX design budget of a flight booking app include:
- Visual elements
- Typography
- Color psychology
- Content writing
- Button placements
- Branding
- UI optimization
- Portrait or landscape mode
Location of the app development agency
The location of the app development agency is an important factor to consider when determining the cost of flight booking app development. For instance, the hourly rate of development in countries such as India, China, and Thailand is generally lower than in the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This difference in development costs can significantly affect the project’s overall cost. Therefore, it is important to consider the location of the app development agency when budgeting for a flight booking app.
| Region | Hourly Rate of Development |
| UAE | $60-$65 |
| US | $95-$100 |
| Western Europe | $80-$90 |
| Australia | $70-$90 |
| Eastern Europe | $50-$55 |
| Asia | $25-$40 |
App Platform
The underlying platform of an app has a direct impact on the cost of development. For instance, developers can opt for either an iOS or Android application or create a cross-platform app. Android apps take longer to develop than iOS apps but require rigorous testing. To keep costs optimized, starting with a single platform in the initial stages is typically recommended, and switching to a cross-platform app once the app gains traction in the market.
Team Size
The size of the team involved in the development of a flight booking app has a significant effect on the overall budget. However, the app’s quality may be compromised due to the lack of professional expertise. Hiring freelancers can be a cost-effective option. Alternatively, outsourcing the project to a dedicated app development agency can help optimize costs while taking advantage of their specialized knowledge and experience.
Here is the team size required to create a robust flight booking app:
- 1-2 project managers
- 1-2 business analysts
- 2-3 frontend developers
- 2-3 backend developers
- 1-2 designers
- 1-2 quality assurance analysts
App Features
The features integrated into a flight booking app also directly impact the overall cost of development. The more features an app has, the higher its cost will be. This is because a well-defined feature set is essential for an app to gain traction in the market and stand out from the competition. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider the features that will be included in the app to ensure that it is both cost-effective and successful.
Conclusion
We hope this blog was able to help you comprehend the various factors that will affect the flight booking app development budget. When considering the development of a flight booking app, it is important to understand the various factors that can influence the project’s cost. While a rough cost estimation can be helpful in the ideation process, the exact cost can only be determined by writing down the idea on paper and discussing it with a mobile app development company. It is essential to ensure that the mobile app developers hired have a similar portfolio to the project in question, as this will help ensure the project’s overall success.