CAPA World Aviation Summit & Awards for Excellence

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

28-29 Nov 2023

Day 1 – Tuesday 28 November 2023
08:00-09:00	Registration, Networking & Coffee
09:00-09:05	Chairperson’s Welcome
09:05-09:15	Host Welcome Etihad Airways, Chairman, H.E. Mohamed Alshorafa Alhammadi
09:15-09:45	Airline Leader Interview CNN, Anchor, Richard Quest Etihad, Group CEO, Antonoaldo Neves
09:45-10:05	CAPA Outlook: State of the Industry {Download Presentation} CAPA, Chief Financial Analyst, Jonathan Wober
10:05-10:50	CAPA Think Tank - Defining aviation’s future path CAPA will host a selection of high profile aviation leaders in a roundtable discussion, covering key topics and important trends in the air transport industry. Thought leaders covering the breadth of the aviation market will provide insights into the competitive landscape for airlines and airports, progress on traffic and financial recovery, opportunities for future development, trends towards privatisation and consolidation and more. Moderator: CNN, Anchor, Richard Quest Panel: AirBaltic, CEO, Martin Gauss SWISS, CCO, Tamur Goudarzi Pour GACA, EVP Strategy and Business Intelligence, Mohammed Alkhuraisi SkyTeam, CEO, Patrick Roux Saudia, CEO, Ibrahim Koshy
10:50-11:20	Coffee Break & Networking
11:20-12:15	Changing passenger preferences: A new world or an evolution of the old? Travel intentions remain undampened in the post-pandemic world, but traveller preferences continue to evolve. How has the search & intentions space changed? Are travellers seeking new sources of inspiration for where they travel and stay? How has the booking space changed? What options are travellers demanding from their preferred booking platforms? How are travellers' interactions with technology evolving through the travel process? How has the spending space changed? Where are travellers putting the emphasis on spending, and where are they seeking to save money? What do travellers want through the journey? Will the emphasis on contactless technologies and self-service continue, or will preferences snapback towards other service propositions? GDSs and other intermediaries are playing a larger role in the NDC adoption process than previously expected. Is it airlines, technology providers, GDSs or other industry players that are driving the adoption of NDC? Moderator: Bluebox Aviation Systems, CEO, Kevin Clark Panel: IBS Software, Senior Vice President and Head of Aviation Passenger Solutions, David Friderici Skyscanner, VP Strategic Relations & Development, Hugh Aitken Riyadh Air, COO, Peter Bellew FLYR, General Manager EMEA, Dominic Mathews
12:15-12:55	Premium travel: The great re-seat Despite an apparent decrease in the number of business travellers, airlines are reporting that levels of premium travel are nearing levels seen before the pandemic. Part of this is a shift in leisure markets towards premium travel. More travellers are demanding a premium experience, initially as part of the ‘revenge travel’ phenomenon to make up for the COVID enforced hiatus and now as a wider shift towards luxury voyages. Whether it is at the airport, in the air or at their accommodation, a new segment of the market is demanding a premium travel experience. How are airlines and airports accommodating the new breed of luxury-focused traveller? How have new working arrangements and the shift to ‘bleisure’ travel contributed to this trend? Do rising travel costs – particularly airfares, booking and entertainment – signal an end to the trend, are travellers new spending habits here to stay? Can business travel be re-invented and reinvigorated to accommodate new trends in working and budgets? Have the priorities of business travel suppliers and business travel buyers diverged? Moderator: CAPA - Centre for Aviation, Head of Analysis, Rich Maslen Panel: Virgin Atlantic, CCO, Juha Jarvinen Global Airlines, CEO, James Asquith Beond, CEO & Chairman, Tero Taskila Al Futtaim, Group Head of Corporate Travel Services, Souhilla Taarabit
12:55-13:00	Welcome to Lunch Herdwick Communications, Co-Managing Director, Mike Evans
13:00-14:00	Lunch Break & Networking
14:00-14:30	Airline Leader Interview Moderator: KornFerry, Senior Client Partner, Michael Bell SunExpress, CEO, Max Kownatzki
14:30-14:40	Keynote Presentation {Download Presentation} Accommodation Plus International (API), SVP & Global Head of Sales, Mark Pulliam
14:40-15:25	Think Tank: Sustainable aviation fuel and aviation’s net zero ambitions Sustainability took on heightened importance during the pandemic, both at the corporate and consumer level. This focus only continues to sharpen: surveys show better than 90% of individuals and companies report sustainability plays an influence when it comes to their travel behaviours. Airlines already have grand commitments towards a carbon-neutral future in place, with ambitions for net zero by 2050. Yet, the industry remains wedded to fossil fuels for the foreseeable future, and it continues to battle negative press and overzealous and misguided regulation seeking to limit emissions. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is widely seen as the best near-term solution to reducing aviation emissions, but progress remains slow. How does the aviation ecosystem come together to ensure the increased uptake of SAF? Short-haul flying bans, emissions pricing schemes, SAF mandates and green taxes. How does the industry work with regulators to achieve its sustainability goals in a method that is cooperative, rather than punitive? How does aviation address the say-do gap when it comes to passengers talking the sustainable talk, but failing to walk the walk? Moderator: CAPA - Centre for Aviation, Head of Analysis, Rich Maslen Panel: Airbus, SVP Head Marketing Commercial & International, Stan Shparberg Keyvan Aviation, CEO & Chairman, Mehmet Keyvan TUI Group, Chief Airline Officer, Marco Ciomperlik ATAG, Executive Director, Haldane Dodd
15:25-15:55	Coffee break & Networking
15:55-16:40	Where did all the planes go? Aerospace and MRO in focus Global fleets are almost full back into operation, with only a fraction of the jets grounded by COVID-19 yet to return to service. Yet, the outlook for the global commercial airline fleet has changed – regional jet and widebody deliveries remain depressed and the rebuild of production rates for the ever-popular and ever more capable narrowbodies remain frustratingly slow. This has major implications across the aviation industry value chain. With delivery delays expected to continue for the next few years, what strategies are airlines using to meet their capacity needs and keep their fleets operating? How are MRO operators looking to benefit from airlines delaying fleet retirements and keeping older/more maintenance intensive aircraft in service for longer? What are the implications of the expansion of eCommerce demand for the aircraft conversion sector? Moderator: CAPA - Centre for Aviation, Senior Analyst Americas, Lori Ranson Panel: Air Serbia, CEO, Jiri Marek Discover Airlines, COO, Wolfgang Raebiger TUI Group, Chief Airline Officer, Marco Ciomperlik Air France-KLM, EVP & CCO, Angus Clarke Finnair, SVP Strategy & Fleet, Christine Rovelli
16:40-16:50	Keynote Presentation {Download Presentation} CAE, Director Product Management - Airports Management and In-flight, Prasanth Mohan
16:50-17:20	Airline Leader Interview CNN, Anchor, Richard Quest IndiGo, CEO, Pieter Elbers
17:25-17:30	Day 1 Closing Remarks
19:00-22:30	Dinner & Awards for Excellence