Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation to hold Low Cost Airline Symposium in New Delhi

The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation is holding the third of its highly successful series of Low Cost Airline Symposia, at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi on 5th and 6th of July. Almost 500 delegates have already heard how low cost airlines are transforming aviation and travel across Asia at the first two symposia, held in Singapore and Macau earlier this year.

An outstanding line-up of local and international experts will assemble in Delhi. They will discuss how the new low cost airline phenomenon will transform the airline, airport and travel sectors in India, South Asia and the Gulf regions at a time when India is embarking on the most radical and promising reform to date of the aviation sector.

Two years ago the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation predicted the Low Cost Airline revolution would flourish in Asia with dramatic implications for the industry, a position that was widely dismissed at the time. Yet today, even the Centre’s Managing Director, Peter Harbison, says he has been amazed at just how quickly the industry is being transformed by the low cost phenomenon, and by the effect this is having on the entire travel and tourism business.

Low cost airlines are already changing the shape of travel and tourism in Asia. They are driving new airport developments and opportunities, and forcing change on existing airlines. It is not just that low cost airlines use lower costs to offer lower fares than their full service counterparts. They are also proving to be far more efficient in the way they run their business. Their adoption of new technology and innovative management practices is now being imitated by established airlines wanting to reduce their own costs. Consumers and the economy as a whole benefit from the substantial productivity gains that result.

Mr Harbison said, “All of this is provoking very different government attitudes to airline access, domestically and internationally. As popular demand for new, low priced air travel spreads – like wildfire – governments are quickly acting to remove restrictions on new airline entry. So this movement is not just about low cost airlines; it is about the smashing of barriers to competition, domestically and internationally.

“The initial response from many in the industry is that ‘it can’t happen here. India is different.’ Six months ago, that is exactly what they were saying about South East Asia. Three months ago, they were saying it in North Asia. You will be astonished at how fast people change their minds, particularly when within the space of the last month we have had announcements about Air India Express, Alliance Air and now Kingfisher, not to mention the interest in Air Deccan’s fundraising process”, says Mr Harbison.

“The movement is creating huge new investment opportunities in airline start-ups and restructuring older airlines. The opportunities do not stop there though. They include new supply chain conditions and prospects for suppliers to airlines and travellers, new needs on airports (and prospects in a market which is moving towards privatisation) and, especially, investment opportunities in the tourism and accommodation sector”, says Mr Harbison.

“Right now, for example, we are looking at established resorts that expect to double their visitor numbers in just a couple of years, as a result of the access to new markets that low cost airlines offer.”

The Symposium will deal with all these issues – how low cost airlines work and how they differ from full service airlines; how they are likely to develop in South and West Asia; their impact on tourism and business; what they mean for airports; how they influence regional development; the effects on the regulatory environment; and the consequences for airline and airport suppliers.

“Their impacts will be dramatic”, says Mr Harbison. “The low cost airline revolution is creating significant new investment opportunities that are not always obvious. For example, they generate new demand for funding and financial services to airlines. For all these benefits to be realised, though, suppliers have to be ready for the changes – just as much as incumbent airlines will have to be prepared to modify the way they do business.

“The experts we have invited to speak at this conference will be able to cover all these opportunities.” Confirmed speakers to date include:

US Department of Transportation: Karan Bhatia, Assistant Secretary for Aviation & Internat’l Affairs 
Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation: Peter Harbison, Managing Director 
Air Arabia: Adel Ali, CEO 
Air Asia: Tony Fernandes, CEO 
Air India: V.K.Verma, Commercial Director 
Air Deccan: Captain Gopinath, Managing Director 
Air Sahara: Uttam Kumaar Bose, CEO 
Jet Airways: Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO 
SriLankan Airlines: Peter Hill, CEO 
Virgin Blue: David Huttner, Head of Strategy 
Pacific Asia Travel Association: Ram Kohli, Chairman 
Aon Global: Prabodh Thakker, Chairman 
Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad: Dato' Bashir Ahmad, Managing Director 
Goldman Sachs: Jean-Louis Morisot, Head of Asia Pacific Investment Research 
Rothschild: Chris Brooks, Head of Transport & Logistics, Asia 
TUI: Frank Tietjen, Deputy Director Corporate Development 
Airbus: Miodrag Rankovic, Customer Marketing Director Africa & South Asia 
Civil Aviation Authority Singapore: Tan Sek Yong, Assistant Director, Budget Carrier Terminal 
Fraport: Ansgar Sickert, Senior Manager Marketing & Sales 
LSG Sky Chefs: Stephan Egli, Senior Vice-President Global Marketing 
Lufthansa Systems: Klaus Giesemann, Sales Executive