ROUTES ASIA: Key Industry Issues to be Discussed in Strategy Forum

This afternoon’s Routes Americas Strategy Forum, which will mark the opening of formal proceedings at this year’s event, will attempt to highlight some of the key issues that are impacting the commercial aviation business across the entire Asian region. With a high profile list of speakers the content has been specially developed to provide a unique insight into the business with informed moderators ensuring the key issues are not glossed over.

The Forum will begin with some opening remarks from Mr XIA Xinghua, Deputy Administrator, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and Mr LIU Jie, Vice Governor of Sichuan Province, and will be immediately followed by keynote presentations from Mr PAN Xiaojun, Vice President & General Manager, Sichuan Province Airport Group and Mr LI Haiying, General Manager, Sichuan Airlines and later in the event from Mr CHEN Zhongwei, Director, Chengdu Logistic Office & Chengdu Port Office.

The first discussion session entitled ‘China – The Holy Grail’ will follow and will focus on how to do network development in China and what the rewards are. This session will be moderated by Mr Gordon Bevan, VP Consulting Services for industry consultants ASM and should give a valuable insight into the market opportunities in China. Panellists include Mr LUO Yu, Vice General Manager, Chengdu Airlines; Mr Andrew Parker, Senior Vice President - Public, International, Industry & Environment Affairs, Emirates Airline; Mr Zhang Jingwei, Assistant Director, Sales, Marketing & Business Development, North Asia, IATA and Mr Glenn Wedlock, GM Aeronautical Business Development, Auckland International Airport.

Session two, entitled ‘India’s Challenges’, will be moderated by Mr Vijay Poonoosamy, VP International & Public Affairs for Etihad Airways and Chairman of the IATA Industry Affairs Committee. The discussion will focus on how India is opening up to the world whilst asking whether market regulations are stifling opportunities and will also consider what needs to change to ensure India takes its place on the world stage. Panellists include Mr Sanjay Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer of IndiGo; Mr Rajeev Jain, President of Mumbai International Airport, Mr V.P. Agrawal, Chairman of the Airports Authority of India and Mr Prashant Sukul, Joint Secretary, The Ministry of Civil Aviation for the Government of India.

‘Good Times and Bad’, the third and final session of the afternoon, will look back at some of the external influences on this region’s market. In recent times volcanoes, earthquakes and the global financial crisis have had a significant effect on aviation and this session will attempt to answer how to cope with traffic downturns following such economic and natural disasters and what marketing tactics can be employed to stimulate traffic. The session will be chaired by Mr John Koldowski, Special Advisor - Strategic Intelligence Centre, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and panellists include Mr Andrew McEvoy, Managing Director, Tourism Australia; Mr Wilco Sweijen, Director of Aviation Marketing for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Mr Hideharu Miyamoto, Director Corporate Strategies of Planning, Narita International Airport.

The specially developed content and the interactive format ensures that the Forum is a popular element of the event. Open to all Routes Asia delegates it is expected to be a thought provoking and lively afternoon and promises to be a stimulating and enjoyable start to this year’s Routes Asia event.

Richard Maslen

Richard Maslen has travelled across the globe to report on developments in the aviation sector as airlines and airports have continued to evolve and…