Kiwi.com

Kiwi.com
FormerlySkyPicker.com
IndustryOnline travel agency
Founded2012
FounderOliver Dlouhý
HeadquartersBrno, Czech Republic
RevenueIncrease CZK 17.2 bn.[1] (2021)
−271,811,000 Czech koruna (2021) Edit this on Wikidata
Increase CZK -0.3 bn.[1] (2021)
Total assetsDecrease CZK 1.6 bn.[1] (2021)
Total equityDecrease CZK -0.9 bn.[1] (2021)
OwnerGeneral Atlantic (53.5 %)[2]
Oliver Dlouhý (22.4 %)[2]
Number of employees
1,700
Websitewww.kiwi.com/en/

Kiwi.com is an international online travel agency headquartered in the Czech Republic. Kiwi.com provides booking for airline tickets and its ticket search features Kiwi.com’s "virtual interlining" innovation that combines airlines in a single itinerary. Kiwi.com’s search engine processes 100 million flight searches every day.[3] The company sold 18.9 million flight seats in 2025.[4]

Along with its headquarters in Brno, Kiwi.com has offices in Prague (Czech Republic), Barcelona (Spain), Bratislava (Slovakia) London (United Kingdom), and Miami (USA).[5]

The company operates globally and has reported annual gross bookings exceeding €2 billion.[6]

History

The company was founded in 2012 by Oliver Dlouhý and Jozef Képesi. In 2016 the company rebranded from SkyPicker.com to Kiwi.com[7] Jiří Hlavenka was one of its first investors.[8] In 2017, Kiwi.com acquired a stake in Jaroslav Kokolus.[9] In 2018, Kiwi.com was included by Financial Times into the list of European firms with the top compound annual revenue growth in 2015-2018[10] and was titled ‘7th fastest growing company’ in EMEA according to Deloitte.[11]

As of June 2019, Kiwi.com’s main shareholder is General Atlantic.[12] Dlouhý remains as major shareholder and continues to run the company.[13]

On 14 January 2021, Southwest Airlines, American airline, sued Kiwi.com, alleging that its scraping of fare information from Southwest's website was a breach of contract and that Kiwi.com's use of Southwest's logo in its search results constituted trademark infringement.[14] In response, Kiwi.com removed Southwest's logo from its search results, but continued to sell Southwest tickets despite Southwest sending Kiwi.com a series of cease-and-desist demands.[15] In December 2021, a Texas court ruled that Kiwi.com is permanently prohibited from extracting information from Southwest's website and selling its tickets without authorization.[16]

In December 2022, Airasia partnered with Kiwi.com to transform the carrier into the ASEAN app for travel and lifestyle.[17][18]

In 2023, Kiwi.com partnered with Bratislava Airport to assist travelers in finding destinations starting from the Slovakian hub.[19]

In 2024, Ryanair entered into a partnership with booking platform Kiwi.com and Kiwi.com launched the Kiwi.com Guarantee product that provides instant credit refunds if flights are delayed or cancelled[20][21][22][23].

In 2025 Kiwi.com announced the launch of an MCP Server for AI agent integration in travel search.[24]

Business model and services

Kiwi.com is an online travel agency specializing in virtual interlining, a system that combines flights and other transport services from carriers that do not cooperate together through interline agreements.[25] The platform creates itineraries using multiple transport providers, including low-cost carriers.[25]

The company offers disruption-management services through Kiwi.com Guarantee, which provides assistance, alternative travel options, or compensation depending on the circumstances of a disrupted itinerary.[25]

Kiwi.com also operates NOMAD, a multi-city travel planning tool, and Tequila, a business-to-business platform providing access to Kiwi.com's travel content and booking technology.[26]

COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kiwi.com was criticized for charging customers for legally impossible flights, slow refunds, and poor customer service.[27][28][29][30] It faced backlash for not accounting for travel restrictions and charging extra for basic support, with limited help for unpaid users.[28][31] The Observer named Kiwi.com among the companies with the worst customer service during the first pandemic year.[30] Refund delays were blamed on airline policies and Kiwi’s non-standard booking model.[32]

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Kiwi has been criticized for its refund policies and its customer service practices.[33]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Annual report of Kiwi.com s.r.o. for calendar year 2021
  2. 1 2 Company register at or.justice.cz, company ID 29352886, Kiwi.com s.r.o., Netherlands-registered General Atlantic PH11 B.V. owns 53.5 %, accessed 2019-10-10
  3. ↑ "Kiwi.com in talks to raise funds for next leg of travel". Phocus Wire. 2 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "Prodejci letenek Kiwi.com loni klesly tržby na 5,6 miliardy korun, snížil ztrátu - Seznam Zprávy". www.seznamzpravy.cz (in Czech). 2026-06-03. Retrieved 2026-08-25.
  5. ↑ "Locations – Jobs at Kiwi.com". jobs.kiwi.com. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  6. ↑ Holzman, Ondřej (2026-06-07). "V Kiwi.com jsme nikdy nebyli v panice, ztrátu máme pod kontrolou, říká Oliver Dlouhý. A pouští se do piva". CzechCrunch (in Czech). Retrieved 2026-08-25.
  7. ↑ "Skypicker becomes Kiwi, sees growth via direct route". Phocus Wire. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 2025-12-19.
  8. ↑ "Inside Interview: Behind the $800,000 Purchase of Kiwi.com". NamePros.
  9. ↑ Beránek, Jan. "HN: Brněnské Kiwi.com brzy přivítá nového investora". Lupa.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  10. ↑ Kelly, Maxine (2020-03-02). "FT 1000: the fourth annual list of Europe's fastest-growing companies". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  11. ↑ "Deloitte announced 2017 Technology Fast 500 EMEA ranking". Deloitte Lithuania. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  12. ↑ Fox, Linda. "Kiwi.com takes big investment as General Atlantic becomes majority owner". PhocusWire. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  13. ↑ "Hotovo. Kiwi.com patří americkému fondu, Dlouhý zůstává". Forbes. 3 June 2019.
  14. ↑ Neuburger, Jeffrey D. (21 January 2021). "Southwest Airlines Sues to Stop Web Scraping of Fare Information". The National Law Review.
  15. ↑ Silk, Robert (3 February 2021). "Facing lawsuit, OTA pulls Southwest logo -- but keeps selling its tickets". Travel Weekly.
  16. ↑ Tabacco, Christina (29 December 2021). "Court Enters Permanent Injunction Against Kiwi.com in Southwest Airlines Data Scraping Case". Law Street.
  17. ↑ "Airasia.com Transforms into Super App by Establishing Strategic Partnership with Kiwi.com". www.mzv.cz. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  18. ↑ "airasia Super App now selling tickets on 700+ airlines to 3,000+ destinations". Japan Today. 2021-11-06. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  19. ↑ "Kiwi.com makes Bratislava booking easier". www.airportsinternational.com. 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  20. ↑ Times, The Brussels. "Ryanair signs agreement with booking platform Kiwi.com". www.brusselstimes.com. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  21. ↑ Whitaker, Greg (2024-02-02). "Ryanair and Kiwi.com end 'period of friction' with OTA deal". Aviation Business News. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  22. ↑ "Kiwi.com lanza una ofensiva en España para plantar cara a Edreams en la venta de billetes de avión". Cinco Días. 4 October 2024. Retrieved 2026-01-16.
  23. ↑ "Kiwi.com překopalo podnikání. Chce zákazníkům garantovat úspěšný dolet až do cíle". e15. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 2026-01-16.
  24. ↑ "How MCP could reshape travel". PhocusWire. 5 November 2025. Retrieved 2026-01-16.
  25. 1 2 3 "Legal Information and Terms & Conditions". Kiwi.com.
  26. ↑ "Better for business: Kiwi.com takes a new approach to partnerships". Kiwi.com.
  27. ↑ Mzezewa, Tariro (3 April 2020). "Why Is Getting a Refund From an Online Travel Agency So Hard?". The New York Times.
  28. 1 2 Thornber, Lorna (3 December 2020). "'Setting you up to fail': NZ couple issued 'impossible' flight itineraries by popular booking site Kiwi.com". Stuff.co.nz.
  29. ↑ Ross, Eric (6 April 2021). "News 5 Investigates: Getting refunds after travel impacted by COVID-19". KOAA. Archived from the original on 2024-04-06. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  30. 1 2 Tims, Anna (27 December 2020). "In the year of Covid, the awards for worst customer service go to..." The Observer. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  31. ↑ Thornber, Laura (11 December 2020). "Passenger 'blocked' from contacting flight booking site Kiwi.com after system glitch: 'I tried every mechanism I could to speak to someone'". Stuff.co.nz.
  32. ↑ Tims, Anna (5 October 2020). "Airline passengers 'wait for refunds despite agents being repaid'". The Guardian.
  33. ↑ "Kiwi.com, Inc. | Better Business Bureau® Profile". www.bbb.org. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
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