Air transport: ICAO seeks to expand market access

The 10th ICAO Air Services Negotiation Event (ICAN 2017) wound up on a high note in Colombo, Sri Lanka recently with 66 States and territories taking full advantage of the unique one-stop platform and cost-effective multi-negotiation framework to expand air transport liberalization and market access through over 420 new air services agreements and arrangements.
In his opening remarks, council president, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu, noted that with the $2.7 trillion which air transport generates for the global economy each year, as well as the 63.5 million people the sector provides sustainable employment to globally, “more and more governments have come to recognize how fundamental air transport access is to a wide range of their socio-economic development objectives.”
Aliu who was represented by ICAO’s director of air transport bureau, Mr. Boubacar Djibo enjoined civil aviation policy makers and regulators to “continue to expand market access opportunities so that the regulatory environment can effectively support a viable and sustainable future for air transport, as well as tourism and trade.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the event, the minister of transport and civil aviation of Sri Lanka, Mr. Nimal Siripala de Silva, emphasized his country’s status as a small island nation noting that it absolutely relies on aviation connectivity to grow its economy sustainably and ultimately attain its socio-economic development goals for Sri Lankans – including those respective of the UN’s worldwide 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
He stressed that Sri Lanka recognizes the fundamental importance of ICAO compliance to enable those high value global connections, which underscores the government’s determination to achieve 85 per cent implementation of ICAO objectives for both its aviation safety and security duties.
More than 426 negotiators took part in some 456 meetings during the five-day ICAN event in Colombo this year.
The agreements they reached will help to improve the global operating environment for airlines and service providers and create new opportunities for them to grow their businesses.
They will also help to generate an expanded selection of air carriers and destinations for global air travelers, in addition to more competitive fares.
Since its inception in 2008, the ICAO ICAN negotiation model has become an important interactive platform for promoting understanding and cooperation amongst government policy makers, regulators, and industry.
The 11th ICAO Air Services Negotiation event in 2018 (ICAN2018) was announced to be held in Kenya at a soon to be confirmed location.
African airlines urged to embrace digital transformation
The 49th annual general assembly (AGA) and Summit of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) ended in Kigali, Rwanda, with calls to embrace airline digital transformation characterized by an era of ‘datafication’, constant connectivity and digital work-forces.
During the four-day summit, over 100 delegates, including global aviation leaders and several airlines representatives from across Africa, exchanged views on current challenges facing the aviation industry especially with airlines facing saturated markets.
One of the issues highlighted during the summit was that technology providers and airlines should work together to enhance their booking experience, follow customers through their journey, offering relevant touch points and service enhancements along the way.
Experts agreed that when travelers search for a flight, the airline should be able to convey how they differ from their competitors in terms of products, services or convenience. Then customers will be able to base their decision on the variables they can see when searching online, such as price and flight schedule.
Increasingly, airlines are recognising that their websites are portals between their customers and their brands, embedding them with the data and content required to serve them in an increasingly data-driven marketplace, it said.
While reacting to these trends, the aviation experts stressed the importance for the airlines in looking at customers’ behavior, see what they respond to, build up patterns in order to achieve greater and more effective use of increasingly available data.
“This is key to up-selling; and if done in the right way, it can be positive for both the airline and the customer,” said John Strickland, a senior aviation analyst.
During this year’s summit, a number of issues that came out of the debates included the implementation of a very “heavy cost-cutting programme” through the adoption of e-commerce solutions.
In addition, the aviation leaders emphasised the need to address some airlines’ inability to fully repatriate funds during operations.