Airlines are trying to shrug off a financially plagued decade by promising passengers more low fares as well as a seamless, paperless and even “contact-less” travel experience, industry executives said.
After electronic ticketing and check-in booths, Dutch carrier KLM is trying out automated bag drop machines, while the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is promising lineup-skipping mobile phone boarding passes, ID scans and “self boarding.”
“The travel experience is going to change, that’s for sure,” Philippe Bruyere, global head of passenger services, said at IATA’s annual end-of-year media day. “Self service is what passengers want.”
“And by self service we don’t mean a kiosk, that’s where we began the conversation two years ago. We mean new web-based services, more things you can do at home instead of in an airport line,” he said.
“In some cases we are facilitating contact-less travel,” he said.
While airlines are trying to woo passengers they are also scrambling to cut costs after they hemorrhaged nearly US$50 billion from 2000 through this year.
“The question for all regions is how to move from the Decennis Horribilis to a wonderful decade — a Decennis Mirabilis,” IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani said, adding that wages were also part of the equation.
As the economy recovers, some 2.3 billion passengers are expected to take to the skies next year — close to a peak achieved in 2007.
Yet, mainstream airlines can expect more losses, with revenues some US$30 billion below those achieved two years ago.
Hikes in air fares are not an option for IATA’s 230 member airlines, which exclude rival budget carriers such as RyanAir and easyJet.
“With two years at exceptionally low levels, consumers and corporate travel buyers will expect travel to remain cheap,” Bisignani said.
IATA underlined that consumers, especially in the world’s largest air travel market, the US, have also emerged from the financial crisis with big debts to clear.
That could undermine household travel budgets for several years.
But “simplifying” the travel experience could yield nearly US$17 billion in savings for airlines, IATA said.
Bigger airports are investing in the changes, but they are also feeling the pinch as airlines more readily pick and change their destinations, according to Airports Council International (ACI).
“Consumers want the lowest prices possible with the fastest service possible, and we sincerely believe the means to achieve that is by implementing automated processes and streamlining procedures,” spokeswoman Nancy Gautier said.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean a radical cut in personnel, rather it’s a way of seeing how they can be better deployed,” she said.
Gautier underlined that the smartphone-equipped flyer was ever more commonplace.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS