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The United States Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, Mr.
Karan Bhatia, will address the forthcoming Low Cost Airline Symposium at the Taj
Palace Hotel in New Delhi on 5th and 6th July.
Assistant Secretary Bhatia holds responsibility for licensing of U.S. and foreign
airlines, formulating U.S. international aviation policy, and the administration of
programs designed to promote competition in the U.S. aviation system.
He will give a presentation on aviation deregulation, providing a global context for
the liberalisation process currently underway in India.
The Delhi symposium, which is expected to attract 300 delegates from around the
world, will focus on the prospects for liberalisation in the Indian subcontinent, the
potential for the development of the low cost airline model and the implications for
associated sectors such as airports, tourism, financial institutions and suppliers.
The event, which is being organised by the Centre for Asia Pacific
Aviation will be the first international aviation
conference to be held in India since the new government was formed, and takes
place as the privatisation process for Delhi and Mumbai Airports gets underway.
Managing Director of the Centre, Peter Harbison, said, “despite enormous
potential, the aviation and tourism industries of the Indian subcontinent have for
many years been the world’s great under-performers. This looks set to change as
deregulation spreads across the region.”
“The process of liberalisation will inevitably stimulate entry by new airlines, many
if not most of them following the low cost model which has gripped the imagination in other parts of the world. Low cost airlines could be the key to
meeting the travel aspirations of the rapidly growing middle class.”
Other confirmed speakers include senior officers of low cost airlines from India,
the Gulf, Asia and Australia, including:
Air Arabia: Adel Ali, CEO
Air Asia: Tony Fernandes, CEO
Air Deccan: Captain Gopinath, Managing Director
Virgin Blue Airlines: David Huttner, Head of Strategy
Leading executives from major carriers from the subcontinent will provide their
perspective on the low cost model and how it affects them. Participants include:
Air India: V.K.Verma, Commercial Director (will chair a session)
Air Sahara: U.K.Bose, CEO
SriLankan Airlines: Peter Hill, CEO
Low cost airlines and the traffic growth that they generate are becoming
increasingly important issues for airports, that have to consider how best to
accommodate this new type of operation. The Managing Director of Malaysia
Airports Holdings (Bashir Ahmed) and the Assistant Director of the new budget
carrier terminal at Singapore Changi Airport (Tan Sek Yong) will discuss these
issues.
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