The Drivers of Airline Industry Transformation: Blockbuster panel to open Airlines in Transition

The CAPA Airlines in Transition Summit at Powerscourt near Dublin on 10/11 April will open with a blockbuster panel on the emerging ways of looking at national ownership controls and the right of establishment as forces for change.

The panel, to be moderated by Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US State Department, John Byerly, will feature:
· Norwegian Air Shuttle CEO and co-founder Bjørn Kjos;
· AirAsia's Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Dublin Aerospace Conor McCarthy;
· European Commission Director of Air Transport Matthew Baldwin;
· Irish Aviation Authority CEO, Eamonn Brennan; and,
· IAG CEO Willie Walsh.

"At the core of the airline industry "archaic" regulation are restrictions on national ownership. Although most forward looking governments are anxious to remove the system inadequacies that these controls create, unilateral or bilateral change cannot achieve it. This is leading to new forms of experimentation which, while staying within the traditional confines, exploit the avenues opened up by multilateral regimes like the EU's open skies, as well as cross border joint ventures where bilateral regimes still apply.