Conference & Meetings World Supplements Airline Supplement | Page 3
Airline Supplement
Up in the air
T
he global meeting industry’s
fortunes are generally intertwined
with those of the air travel industry.
So, as we head into 2016, how is this
relationship working out and what are
the different airline alliances all about?
With airfares continuing to fall, along
with the price of oil, surely the only
big pressure on airline use is from the
environmental lobby?
Air passenger numbers are set to
grow dramatically, if IATA’s 20 year
Passenger Forecast Report is correct in
its analysis that air passenger numbers
will double by 2034, from a 2015 total
of 3.5bn to 7bn taking to the skies
annually within 20 years.
The report also predicts the largest
passenger markets will be China,
the United States, India, the UK and
Indonesia, Japan, Brazil, Spain,
Germany and France make up the rest
of the top 10.
The five fastest growth markets for
additional passengers over the next
20 years will be China with 758m new
customers, the United States at 523m,
India is to have 275m and fourth and
fifth are Indonesia and Brazil with 132m
and 104m, respectively.
And, as the demand for air transport
continues to grow, business travellers
and conference delegates are sure
make up a good share of that 7bn
figure.
Asia-Pacific and the Middle East,
the report says, are expected to have
4.9% growth, with 2.9bm and 383m
passengers, respectively. Africa could
grow by 4.7% with 294m passengers
by 2034.
Latin American should also grow by
4.7% for an annual passenger total of
605m in 20 years time. Europe will grow
the slowest at 2.7% for a market of
1.4bn, while North America expands by
3.3% to also reach 1.4bn.
In the next 20 years, Expedia is
forecasting that the real cost of air travel
could drop by up to 1.5% per year.
Maybe our large international venues
and PCOs will be employing the
mathematicians to work out where
they need to target their marketing in
future?
Consumer surveys, meanwhile, have
shown that the most important factor in
buying an airline ticket is price.
An average 8% drop in world airfares
during the first 10 months of 2015, as
reported by Expedia, did not seem
to result in happier passengers, as
complaints against airlines are on the
rise.
The US Department of Transportation
alone received over 10,000 complaints
against US-based airlines in the first 10
months of 2015, a rise of over a quarter
on the same period last year.
Passengers’ rights groups claim the
discontent is because airlines continue
to charge high fees to check bags
and change reservations while packing
more passengers into smaller seats.
Whether you are paying less and
complaining more, or the reverse, it is
worth knowing how the major airlines
now line up in their various alliances.
CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
CMW-AIRLINE-SUPP_2.indd 3
3
23/12/2015 15:45