Hockey stick growth in Twitter followers for airlines and airports, after the volcanic eruption on Iceland 2010.

1. AIRLINES AND AIRPORTS
ON TWITTER
Hockey stick growth in followers after
the volcanic eruption at the
Eyjafjallajökul glacier on Iceland
Hans Kullin, April 22, 2010

2. Consumers connect to airlines and
airports on Twitter
• During the eruption of the volcano at the Eyjafjallajökul glacier on Iceland, most of
the airline traffic in Europe was stopped for a number of days. During this
period, many airlines, airports and travel agencies communicated actively through
social media channels like Twitter.
• In times of crisis, the demand for accurate and timely information is almost
insatiable. Stranded travellers turned to social media for information on cancelled
flights, alternative routes etc and Twitter was one of the channels that provided
this type of information.
• Thanks to the professional and engaging way many corporate Twitter accounts
approached the situation, they managed to gain a large number of new followers
in a short period. Some, like Heathrow and Manchester airports, doubled the
number of followers in just one week (April 15-22, 2010).
• According to Kampanje.com, both SAS and Norwegian gained about 7,000 fans
each to their respective Facebook pages during this period. Other airlines, like
Finnair, were active on Facebook but not on Twitter were it has only secured the
username, but are not actively tweeting.

3. Arlanda Airport

4. Heathrow Airport

5. Manchester Airport

6. Oslo Airport

7. British Airways

8. Icelandair

9. KLM

10. Lufthansa

11. SAS Group

12. Swiss Airlines

13. #ashtag
• Hans Kullin
• www.twitter.com/kullin
• www.kullin.net
• www.socialamedier.com