Corporate Travel Analysis Reports

Catch up on some of the most thought-provoking discussions and keynotes from the 2017 CAPA-ACTE New Zealand Aviation and Corporate Travel Summit in Auckland. Below is a snap shot of key quotes from some of our honoured guests in attendance to discuss what is affecting the industry in this part of the world.

UK regional low-fare carrier Flybe saw its shares fall by 20% on 18-Oct-2017 after a second profits warning in just over six months. The airline says adjusted first-half pre-tax profits would be in the range of GBP5m to GBP10m, down from an estimate of GBP15m. This compares with a £15.9m adjusted pre-tax profit a year ago.

A host of new apps and techniques are being developed across the spectrum of retailing, payments and generally controlling customer behaviour - or at least offering an array of attractive alternatives. These increasingly include Artificial Intelligence and chatbots, in ways that transform one-on-one communication with customers.

Norwegian airport operator Avinor has been talking about airport infrastructure and capacity expansion strategy in remote northwest Norway where it has pursued an "aggressive" strategy "for many years", partly to support dynamically increasing tourist traffic in the region, relative to the rest of the country.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is expected to upgrade its business class product in the Australia market as it takes delivery of new 787-10 aircraft.

Last week the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its latest World Economic Outlook. Overall, the IMF suggests that the 'global upswing in economic activity is strengthening' and it forecasts global GDP growth of 3.7-3.8% per year over its 5-year horizon. The outlook for emerging markets is stronger than for the advanced economies, with growth lifting to 5% in the former, but easing slightly to 1.7% in the latter. In the near-term, broad-based upward revisions in the euro area, Japan, emerging Asia, emerging Europe and Russia more than offset downward revisions for the US and UK.

The death warrant for global alliances is routinely issued. It takes only a squabble between members or one airline's partnership with a member outside the alliance to see the entire value of global alliances come into question, with a prediction of collapse, disbandment and obliteration. Yet in reality, reports of their demise have been greatly exaggerated; global alliances have been busy creating a new life.

The under-construction Nantes Notre-Dame-des-Landes Airport in northwest France was the scene of a demonstration with a difference on 14-Oct-2017 when 300 local residents marched in favour of its completion and the transfer of operations from the existing Nantes Atlantique Airport. The protesters made reference to a local referendum that collected votes in favour of the new airport in Jun-2016, 57% of the public voting for it.

As passenger numbers are on the rise around the world, and airports are reporting being at or near capacity, how can the industry hope to grow to meet demand when space is at a premium? The only real answer has to lie in our existing infrastructure - utilising the space that we already have to better effect in order to increase the capacity of some of the world's busiest airports.

The Greek market is not new for Central and Eastern Europe low cost specialist Wizz Air where it has had a presence since 2004, however, summer 2018 will see its biggest commitment as it more than quadruples its activities and makes its debut at Athens International Airport. The budget carrier will launch a network of 30 weekly flights to eight destinations from Athens next year, including daily connections to Bucharest, Budapest (from Sep-2018) and Sofia.