“The biggest challenge in India will be coping with demand. We are building airports to meet the demand and creating the infrastructure and capacity and we feel that the users should come in and use it.”

P Seth, board member planning (operations), Airports Authority India

“The over-capacity issue needs to be addressed and carriers in the premium segment, such as Singapore and Cathay, need to address it very quickly as the deterioration in passenger traffic is so severe. If we don’t get capacity in line with demand we are going to have a bottomless situation.”

Kapil Kaul, South Asia CEO, CAPA

“For a lot of airlines in this region it is their first recession so they haven’t got to grips with their costs and some are not functioning as commercial entities but rather corporate entities, fulfilling far too many agendas.”

Gordon Bevan, principal consultant, ASM

“I think we need to be ready to take advantage of the upturn and not get sucked into the ‘half empty’ scenario.”

Phil Baker, managing director, Adelaide Airport

“In India we need to focus on infrastructure as the country has huge potential and is very important to the global economy. It is imperative that we gear up for the future now, as this is where the traffic is going to be.”

Kashyap Mansata, senior manager network planning, Kingfisher Airlines

“The airline industry in Asia, and around the world, should be focusing on getting back to the basics by ensuring they are operating an airline that is efficient, viable and sustainable. Airlines should not get carried away with indicators that are only going to mislead them, for instance, passenger numbers or aircraft numbers.”

Vijay Poonoosamy, vice president international affairs, Etihad Airways

“The industry needs to focus on planning our strategies now for when the world economy does turnaround, so we are ready to capitalise on those opportunities when they present themselves.”

Robert Evans, general manager commercial, Cairns Airport

“Airlines in Asia should focus on the following 12 months; looking forward to 2010 and beyond. Now is not a good time, the next six months is not a good time, but beyond that there has actually been some positive feedback.”

Matthew Findlay, aeronautical business manager, Auckland Airport

“In the next 12 months we need to focus on the following 12 months and the two and three years beyond that. I think now is the time to lay the foundations and build relationships towards what we are going to do as we come out of the slowdown.”

Rob O’Brien, director aviation, Tourism Victoria

“We should focus on chances, as in all crises there are business opportunities around.”

Carsten Hernig, regional director South Asia, Middle East and Pakistan, Lufthansa Cargo

“We need to focus on how we will handle the recovery rather than the downturn. We need to have the recovery plan in our back pocket, ready to whip out so we can address the rapid escalation in demand when it comes along.”

Geoffrey Conaghan, general manager corporate affairs, Melbourne Airport

“Airlines must focus on supporting the different markets that they serve, making sure that the people who want to visit those markets understand why they should go there, as well as making it easy for them to visit.”

Scott Norris, general manager business development, Perth Airport

“Focus on cooperating and strengthening existing routes by supporting joint approaches to marketing and promotion for destinations and creating an industry wide approach for future market development. We need to agree on unified strategies for destination development.”

Shahram Saber, regional director, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)

“In the next one to two years we will concentrate on strengthening our existing network rather than expanding into new destinations.”

Peter Wiesner, senior vice president marketing, Bangkok Airways

“We need to build awareness and demand for destinations because demand drives growth. In terms of leisure travel we all need to be focused on continuing to push marketing so that when the economy improves people are already starting to think about where they will go on their next holiday.”

Mark Gill, manager of access development, South Australia Tourism Commission

This article is featured in Routes News 2009 Issue 3

 

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