Testing times for airlines
Airlines in Asia, the world's fastest-growing aviation market, will face three challenges in the next 10 years: competition, technology and environment, aviation experts said yesterday.
Jaan Albrecht, CEO of the Star Alliance airline network, said fiercer competition would force more global alliances in the next 10 years.Airline consolidation is inevitable, especially on a regional scale, to overcome the unhealthy balance of market forces, he told a seminar entitled "Asia Forum 2007: The Future of Aviation" in Bangkok. Albrecht said the industry would see ever more technological advances as new information technology provided more ways to initiate changes and upgrade capabilities. Airlines should also pay attention to the environment, in order to create sustainable returns, he said. He warned that infrastructure had to be expanded to keep pace with the growing capacities of airlines. Thai Airways International president Apinan Sumanaseni said airlines had to cope with not only stiff competition and rising costs, but also growing customer demand for high-quality services at low prices. Apinan said one big challenge facing airlines was overcoming criticism that they were a major contributor to global warming. World Tourism Organisation secretary-general Francesco Frangialli said Asia would be the driving force in world tourism for the next 15 years, with an annual growth rate through 2020 of 6.5 per cent, compared with 3.4 per cent in Europe and 3.1 per cent in the Americas. Suchat Sritama The Nation
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