Cross border JVs and LCC alliances. Establishing and operating multi-airline brands
Partnerships of one form or another are critical for enabling expansion across borders in the relatively crowded and increasingly competitive Asian market. These serve as a platform for attracting transit traffic and expanding into different markets. The cross border JV model has allowed Asia’s major LCC groups – AirAsia, Jetstar, Lion Air, and to a lesser extent VietJet – to accommodate foreign ownership restrictions by taking branded minority stakes in local airlines. Similar strategies are being pursued in Latin America and Africa. Smaller LCCs that might fall outside these major groups have established alliances of their own, such as the U-Fly Alliance, consisting of HNA-owned carriers, and the eight member Value Alliance; both groupings are powered by a technology platform linking the member airline websites, crucially enabling the ability to cross-sell all the ancillaries offered by each of the partner airlines, allowing members to grow their passenger base without increasing cost and complexity
- How effective are cross border JVs and LCC groupings in a) synergising costs b) generating revenues, especially ancillaries and c) increasing traffic
- What are the opportunities or limitations for creating brand awareness, increasing purchasing power and synergising fleets under the two partnership models?
- How to strategically manage more than one brand when there is multi brand ownership
- Can a non aligned LCC survive without being part of either a branded group or LCC alliance?
- Can the branded JV model and LCC alliance serve as examples for others to follow?
Moderator: National University of Singapore, Professor of Aviation, Alan Tan
Panel:
- flyadeal, CEO, Con Korfiatis
- Uriel Aviation Holdings, Vice Chairman, Andrew Cowen
- Vanilla Air, Senior Executive VP, Mioko Yamamuro