Aviation sector experts and commentators will gather in Dubai for the twentieth annual Arabian Travel Market exhibition next month because the industry comes under close scrutiny at dedicated sessions as portion of the total ATM 2013 seminar series.
Kicking off the talk, two of the giants of aviation will participate in The massive Conversation at the first day of the show, with Emirates Airlines president, Tim Clark, and Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, discussing their groundbreaking partnership.
A Euromonitor-led presentation on the WTM Vision seminar on May 7th, will share the result of research into the opportunities for growth by most economical airlines inside the Middle East.
Another aviation outlook session, specializing in the challenges and opportunities, will feature Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive, flydubai; Aage Dünhaupt, director, group communications south-east Europe, Middle East & Africa, Lufthansa; and Randy Tinseth, vp, marketing, Boeing Air carriers.
Building at the momentum, Sunil Malhotra, director aviation sector, Middle East & North Africa for Ernst & Young, will present the newest industry findings and a 10-year outlook with a session entitled ‘Looking to the skies: global aviation trends 2013 – 2033’ at the afternoon of May 8th.
“The last three years have seen the worldwide aviation industry turn a corner despite ongoing market turbulence.
“While consolidation is the method in North America, and European carriers are busy lobbying for an end to excessive taxation and passenger duties, the center East and Asia are capitalising on both route network growth opportunities and robust passenger demand,” said Mark Walsh, portfolio director, Reed Travel Exhibitions.
According to IATA, global airline sector profit will grow from -$US4.6 billion in 2009 to a forecast figure of US$7.5 billion for 2013 with Asia Pacific and Middle East based airlines dominating the international passenger market and leading the manner with regards to improved operating margins.
“The aviation industry has grown by 53 per cent since 2000 despite the impact of SARS, the worldwide financial crisis and regional conflicts.
“The world passenger growth in air traffic is recoded at five per cent every year by ICAO scheduled traffic analysis since 1980,” said Malhotra.
“According to the report, Asia-Pacific will lead world traffic by 2031, with a 32 per cent share, while the center East will rise to 11 per cent in 2031 from the present figure of 7 per cent.
“The future forecasts over a higher two decades for the realm GDP growth as per IMF is at 3.2 per cent once a year and in response to ICAO forecasts, the selection of airline passengers is projected to grow at four per cent with airline traffic growth outlined to grow at five per cent each year.”
Partnership activity is a significant focus of the report as airlines are proactively seeking for more meaningful alliances and partnerships to reinforce their synergies and passenger flows.
“Some of the Gulf carriers are joining global alliances, whilst others have entered into strategic code shares to advertise traffic flows between continents.
“Airlines are actually planning to guage aggressively dormant partnerships and consider making a cohesive air charter for organic growth,” said Malhotra.
However, he points out that despite consolidation and new alliances, the industry is facing a highly competitive environment, which continues to overwhelm airline profitability and return on capital, with it unlikely to meet up with cost of capital within the near future.
“Facing future uncertainty in a risk-laden market, legacy carriers also are scrambling to locate a model that works, with a refocus on short haul routes, development of LCC’s and re-evaluation in their long-haul networks,” added Malhotra.