CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Asia & Awards for Excellence

Join CAPA - Centre for Aviation, the world's most trusted source for aviation intelligence, for a comprehensive snapshot of the state of commercial aviation across the globe. Featuring exclusive insights generated from CAPA's extensive data and aviation knowledge tools, this session will not only examine key performance metrics for aviation, but will examine implications for major trends in regional aviation that are shaping the industry's outlook.

Airline payments have become one of the fastest-evolving and most strategically important parts of our industry today. They used to be seen as back-office plumbing. But that’s changed – dramatically.

Airlines are now recognising that payments are not just a cost centre, but a competitive differentiator. How you let customers pay – and how efficiently you collect and manage that money – has huge implications for loyalty, ancillary revenue, global reach, fraud prevention, and overall customer experience.

As new payment technologies, regulatory shifts, and changing customer expectations converge, airlines are under pressure to innovate - and at the same time, keep things safe, scalable, and secure.

To navigate what’s new, and what’s next, Wendy Ward, Chief Marketing Officer and Michael Marrone, Chief Financial Officer at UATP - a company that has been at the centre of airline payments innovation for decades - joined Rich Maslen, Head of Analysis, CAPA - Centre for Aviation at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Asia in Singapore in Oct-2025.

Few things have the potential to spike the blood pressure quite like air travel. Whether it's the mysterious disappearance of gate agents when flights are delayed, a missed connection, a cryptic delay notification, or standing in a queue that defies the laws of physics – for many travellers, what’s meant to be the start of an adventure or a long-awaited reunion can become a source of real stress.

But lately, that stress has become a little less funny and a lot more chronic. Travellers are no longer just anxious about legroom – they’re anxious about whether they’ll get home at all.

And yet, while we all love to grumble about airports and airline meals, the expectations we place on the travel experience have never been higher. Today’s travellers want seamless journeys, instant updates, and proactive solutions – and they want them delivered with the same polish and immediacy as a ride-hailing app. And while airlines grapple with weather, IT outages, and a revolving door of regulations, travellers just want one thing: a sense that someone – somewhere – has their back.

On the other hand, airlines and travel tech companies are battling a very different reality – one shaped by weather volatility, system failures, shifting regulations, and global uncertainty. Delays and cancellations have become more frequent, more complex, and harder to predict.

So, how do we ease customer anxieties in this climate? Can innovation and AI help bridge the growing trust gap between travellers and the travel industry? And can technology — sometimes blamed for the depersonalisation of service – actually become the invisible safety net that quietly protects the customer when things go wrong?

Oliver Dlouhý, CEO of Kiwi.com, took to the stage at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Asia in Singapore in Oct-2025 to discuss the subject, addressing this issue through innovative product design and how AI integration can be the invisible architecture protecting customers and simplifying life for airlines.

Aeroprime Group has a deep understanding of the Indian aviation landscape and market dynamics. Their services are based on industry best practices, and data-driven business strategies.

Uncertainty is a universal acid to aviation businesses: eroding confidence, undermining business plans and forcing leaders into undesirable positions. With uncertainty - economic, political, regulatory and structural - growing for the industry, how do aviation businesses, regulators, lawmakers and other stakeholders respond and adapt to this challenge?

Visa's Lead Economist (Asia Pacific) shares fresh perspectives on Asia Pacific's travel recovery and growth corridors. - revealing how transactional data uncovers emerging travel patterns, evolving customer behaviours and the economic forces shaping the region's travel landscape.

The fast-growing Asia Pacific aviation sector is forecast to require more than 400,000 new aviation professionals over the next decade to meet demand for increase in air travel. With regional airlines already struggling to attract sufficient pilots, cabin crew and engineers just to meet their existing operations, where is this new wave of aviation professionals going to come from?

• Does aviation have an image problem when it comes to attracting new workers?

• How does the sector attract and retain new talent? What is the role of internal training, upskilling and re-training in maximizing worker retention?

• What are the expectations of the next generation of aviation workers?

• How does the sector look at technologies like AI and automation address workforce gaps?

• How do Asia Pacific airlines compete for staff with the large airlines of the Middle East, North America and Europe?

Aviation's sustainability transition in the Asia Pacific seems to be making headway - both institutional and industrial. After years of lobbying, more favourable policy environments are emerging across the region. These are increasingly being met by much-needed investments from the public and private sectors, particularly in the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) sector. In the meantime, airlines continue to update their fleets and seek out new technologies that will allow them to reduce emissions and improve the efficiency of their businesses.

• What is the role of regional governments in supporting airlines in achieving their sustainability objectives? Are SAF targets and usage mandates - which are already being introduced or contemplated in Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand - realistic and effective?

• Is there a risk that the Asia Pacific won't be able to meet its own SAF production need? Facilities in South Korea and mainland China are due to be joined by new plants in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia this year, but is this enough to even meet current demand?

• Is there space, or political will, for a more collective approach to aviation sustainability in the Asia Pacific? Can regional economic groupings like ASEAN work to support frameworks that will accelerate adoption of sustainable policies and generate greater momentum?

• With business travel still on a rapid growth trajectory, do corporate customers have a role to play in supporting the sustainability of regional airlines?

Southeast Asia has been one of the world's fastest growing aviation regions. However, a number of key regional markets, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, have seen a recent slowdown in growth.

• Is the recent slowdown in these markets just a transient phenomenon, or is there something more structural going on?

• What are the options to accelerate intra-regional aviation liberalisation? How is ASEAN open skies progressing?

• Are regional low cost carriers starting to run out of new markets to develop? Is it time for them to move up the customer value chain?

• What are the competitive responses of full service carriers in the region to a new surge in competition, both from other network carriers from outside the region and from LCCs within?

Mr. Chai Eamsiri joined Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) in 1985 and was promoted to Manager of Fuel Department in 1997, then Director of Corporate Insurance in 2003 and Director of Petroleum and Fuel Management in 2006 consecutively. In 2014, Mr. Eamsiri was appointed Vice President of Petroleum, Corporate Insurance and Aviation Environment Department. His most recent position was Chief of Financial Officer. With Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Assumption University and Master's Degree in Business Administration from Kasetsart University as well as over 40 years of working with THAI, Mr. Eamsiri has accumulated experiences and skills of airline business in important key areas of the company's operations including financial and accounting literacy which is highly significant in achieving the Rehabilitation Plan amendments. Mr. Eamsiri has worked with international organizations and has been entrusted to be in a special working group of the business restructuring initiatives in 2020. He has played a vital role in the company's Rehabilitation Plan implementation and transformation since 2020. Mr. Chai Eamsiri was appointed THAI Chief Executive Officer on 1 February 2023.

Peter Smith is SVP of Strategic Partnerships - Travel, at Cover Genius, the insurtech for embedded protection. Prior to Cover Genius, Peter was Head of New Business at Holiday Extras, a UK and European provider of travel ancillaries, responsible for developing their partnerships and driving revenue. He has also gained insight into e-commerce platforms as Head of Sales for the UK for CarTrawler, one of the most widely distributed car rental booking engines in the world. Peter has spent his career working in travel and hospitality and also worked closely with the founders of MoneySupermarket.com, playing an instrumental role in helping build their leading travel comparison website, TravelSupermarket.com.

Asia Pacific airport projects are expected to require almost USD200 billion in investments over the decade, to support greenfield facilities and upgrades to existing airports. With 1.6 to 2 billion additional passengers expected over the period, these investments are seen as crucial to meeting anticipated growth and improving aviation's operational performance across the Asia Pacific, while also transforming the passenger experience as technology continues to change. This session will bring together airport infrastructure leaders and other stakeholders to consider a range of questions:

• Are airport investment plans actually aligned with the realities of growth and forward traffic expectations? If not, where are the key areas where investment and development lagging behind projections?

• Is a model of best practice emerging when it comes to Asia Pacific regional airport investment?

• Do Asia Pacific states need to find a balance between the public and private sectors when it comes to funding and operating airports in the region?

• Apart from runways and other physical infrastructure, what are the priorities for regional airport development?

• Where are the policy levers than can be pulled to enhance airport infrastructure development in order to support regional air transportation growth?

David Wills is a sustainability business leader and strategic advisor who is based in Sydney and has over 30 years of industry and sustainability advisory experience. He has an engineering background, starting his career as a refinery engineer followed by a range of technical, management and business leadership roles in industry and consulting. Prior to co-founding Envest Global in 2020, David spent 13 years at CH2M HILL and 14 years at ERM, one of the world's leading sustainability advisory firms. During his time with ERM he was Managing Director for the Australia, NZ, Indonesia and PNG businesses (2007-13), global managing partner for a major energy key client account (2013-15) and Asia Pacific Commercial Director (2015-20). His focus in recent years has been on providing a robust, objective, data-driven assessment of the sustainability performance of aviation industry.

SkyTeam has named Patrick Roux as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 October 2022. An industry veteran with more than 30 years' experience, Patrick will be joining SkyTeam from Air France, where he spent the last 15 years working at executive level across key roles covering strategic and operational leadership, most recently as Senior Vice President Alliances. This included overseeing Air France-KLM 's strategic partnership activities to maximize the group's profitability, as well as its commercial offering in different markets through more than 80 Joint Venture or codeshare agreements. Patrick holds a degree in engineering from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Telecommunications in Paris.

Tae Joon Kim is Senior VP - International Affairs & Alliances for Korean Air. In this role, he is responsible for the Air Service Agreements, the SkyTeam Airline Alliance, and developing deep, integrated relationships regarding Korean Air's bilateral alliances and joint ventures. His over 30 years of experience and knowledge contributes to managing Korean Air's International Affairs and Alliances.

Thai Airways International, CEO Chai Eamsiri spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Asia 2025, about latest industry trends and company developments.

CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.

Changi Airport Group, EVP, Air Hub & Cargo Development, Ching Kiat Lim spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Asia 2025, about latest industry trends and company developments.

CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.

UATP Chief Marketing Officer, Wendy Ward & Chief Financial Officer, Michael Marrone spoke to CAPA TV at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Asia 2025, about latest industry trends and company developments.

CAPA Events are hosted in key markets around the world and attract the highest calibre of thought leaders and decision makers in the aviation and travel industry. Delegates are provided with unprecedented access to the latest data, insights and trends from our global team, in addition to valuable networking opportunities with executives across all sectors of the aviation and travel industry. Review CAPA's full events calendar here.

Mike started his airline career as a pilot with British Airways in 1990 flying Boeing 737, 757, 767 and Airbus A320 aircraft. He moved into management within British Airways in 1996 and by the year 2000, at the age of 34, was appointed as Chief Pilot of their Gatwick operations. In 2001, Mike moved into the commercial side of British Airways as General Manager World Sales. By late 2003 Mike had moved to EasyJet as Operations Director responsible for all maintenance, pilots, cabin crew, airport operations, safety and security. Latterly, in 2005 Mike became Chief Operating Officer. In 2006 Mike took the helm of his first airline, as the CEO of then start-up LCC VivaAerobus in Mexico. After three years, on very little cash investment, the company was thriving with healthy profit margins having weathered, amongst other things, fuel price shocks, excessive over-capacity, swine flu, and peso depreciation. Since 2009 Mike has taken on a breadth of CEO challenges: trying to rescue a massively distressed airline in Europe (Spanair), successfully starting another Latin American LCC (VivaColombia) and leading the efforts to establish a new LCC for Qatar Airways in Saudi Arabia (Al Maha). Having seen many other parts of the world, Mike was delighted to come to Asia in February 2016, taking the helm at Cebu Pacific Air.

The travel retail landscape has fragmented for everyone whether they're content suppliers, channel operators, technology partners or the end consumer. New product and pricing models offer greater than ever flexibility, pricing power and personalisation options, but have also vastly increased the complexity of the booking journey and the amount of time and effort needed to complete it.

• Can new AI solutions like booking agents, consolidation tools and virtual assistants fuse together this travel retail landscape into something more stream-lined, consistent and user friendly?

• Is the industry taking the wrong view - is fragmentation just the price we pay for a travel retail landscape that is focused on innovation, competitive differentiation and meeting ever-changing demands for greater personalisation, new channels and platforms and ever more customised content?

• What does AI offer from different perspectives? Does the promise of AI tools for buyers/consumers - of supporting faster, smarter, cheaper and more personalised travel decisions - run up against the AI tools of suppliers/channels, which want to maximise profits and keep consumers/buyers within their own purchasing ecosystems.

• With the global distribution landscape now more complex and fragmented than ever, we explore the key trends that have tilted the balance in the travel ecosystem. How are changing consumer expectations, channel proliferation, technology diffusion and new retailing opportunities altering the state of play for the sector?

• What are the latest shifts and developments in the complex distribution landscape to help meet the changing consumer expectations?

• What role does data-driven traveller insights play at the heart of business strategies and how will it continue to evolve?

• The impact of AI on Aviation and Travel: How consumers as well as aviation and the travel sector at large, are embracing AI and what it means for travel retailing and beyond.

• How will AI change the way in which airlines manage disruptions on the day of operations, and enable them to better support passenger journeys?