What will flying be like for passen- gers in 2025? Will conventional check-in have long become a thing of the past? These were just some of the topics discussed by representatives from the world of business, aviation and politics at Aviation Event 2015, which took place in the House of Logistics and Mobility (HOLM) in Frankfurt on 6 July.
Nuria Fermoso, IATA Manager for ‘Passenger Experience, Europe’, showed this video
to start off the podium discussion on the topic of ‘What is set to change soon for passengers before, during and after their journey?’ Passenger Experience of the Future.
Will what we see in the video be a reality in ten years’ time? Increasing digitalisation should make flying a relaxed and almost stress-free experience in the future. For example, there will be information that passengers can ‘collect’ at their current location (their departure or destination airport, on board their flight, etc.), notifying them of everything relevant for them at that particular moment. The digitalisation of many different aspects of our lives is already making lots of things easier today, including travel. Nevertheless, apps – in their current form – will be a thing of the past in ten years’ time. Security checks will still be veritable bottlenecks at airports. The authorities responsible for security checks will not yet have the necessary means to keep pace with changes. Nuria Fermoso, Dave Bakker from SITA, Anton Lill from topb and Bonus Air Berlin, and Michael Zaddach from Munich Airport were all in agreement on this.
Open-heart surgery
Two keynote speakers topped off the event with six podium discussions: the Green Party’s Transport Minister for Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Hermann, and the CEO of Air Berlin, Stefan Pichler. Pichler, a former Lufthansa executive, transformed the Kuwaiti low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways into a network airline, and in 2012, he generated an operating profit margin of 30.2 per cent for the company, the second-highest of all airlines in the world. In 2013 he became the CEO of Fiji Airways, and in February 2015 he took over as head of Germany’s second-biggest airline. Pichler gives a sobered impression. He tells the audience about the situation at his company, which he is in the process of restructuring. It is like open-heart surgery, he says. He believes that the restructuring is the right thing to do. Otherwise, says Pichler, who appears somewhat weary, “I wouldn’t have flown in from Fiji”.
ADV General Manager Ralph Beisel, CDU Member of the German Bundestag (lower house of parliament) Klaus-Peter Willsch and Lufthansa executive Jörg Neumann discussed how to safeguard the performance of airports in Germany and Europe and maintain their long-term growth and competitiveness. Green Party Member of the Bundestag Stephan Kühn, Dr Alexander Theiss from the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Mr German Halcour from Lahmeyer Rhein-Main focused on the topic of ‘aviation and politics’. Peter Gerber, CEO of Lufthansa Cargo, Markus Kopp from Mitteldeutsche Flughafen AG and Matthias Jakobi, Vice President of Aircargo Club and IATA Area Manager for Central Europe, addressed the topic of why German industry is remaining silent on declining air cargo transport.