TDA Face-to-Face: Bruno des Fontaines, Amadeus
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TDA Face-to-Face: Bruno des Fontaines
Vice President of Business Solutions for Asia Pacific, Amadeus
1. Amadeus recently released its report of mobile technology on the aviation industry; how do the trends in Asia Pacific compare with the rest of the world?
The rising demand for mobile technology is already having an impact on the way people plan for and book travel. With a total of 2.6 billion mobile subscribers in Asia Pacific, airlines and other players in the travel industry must consider investing in mobile technology to meet travellers’ demands as well as differentiate them from the competition.
Amadeus’ global study, ‘The always-connected traveller’ showed that specific, emerging mobile technologies will revolutionise each stage of travel in the future. Some of the study’s key trends include a high traveller demand for mobile services, the strong uptake of mobile functionality among Asian and North American carriers, and the emerging mobile capabilities for ancillary services.
2. How well do you feel the region’s airlines are responding to the growth of mobile adoption, and is there any difference between LCCs and full-service carriers?
Whether it is LCCs or full-service carriers, the same mobile technologies are applicable, as there is a demand for similar mobile travel services among both types of travellers. Our research found that Asia Pacific’s airlines are among those that offer the most mobile services, complementing the huge number of mobile subscribers in the region. Indeed, both full-service and low-cost carriers in the region, such as Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand, Jetstar and Air Asia already offer services such as mobile check-in and mobile boarding passes.
3. How close are we to seeing an entirely automated, mobile-driven, global booking, check-in and boarding process?
With the global smartphone market growing almost 80% year-on-year in Q1 2011, mobile connectivity has become a major fabric of our society. More than 40% of smartphone owners already use their devices to get destination information, while 34% of business travellers use them to make booking changes during their trip, leaving us with no doubt that demand for mobile travel services will only increase. While airlines have responded to this by deploying mobile functionalities, such as mobile check-in, 2D Bar Code Boarding Passes (BCBP) and itinerary management services, a fully-automated, mobile-driven booking, check-in and boarding process will take some time to be implemented globally.
4. Why are airlines being relatively slow to introduce in-flight internet, when it is already available in the majority of other public spaces?
Currently there are over 2,000 aircraft globally that are Wi-Fi enabled and more airlines are offering onboard internet and mobile phone capability every day. Surveys show there is demand for in-flight connectivity, especially with the increased use of mobile devices, prompting carriers to invest heavily in Wi-Fi. The major considerations of upgrading an in-flight system are direct cost, operational impact, certification requirements and installation time. While there is demand for in-flight internet, the uptake may not be high enough to justify the cost. According to the 2010 JD Power Global Airline Traveller Survey commissioned by Amadeus, only 4.1% of travellers pre-purchase in-flight Wi-Fi services. Furthermore, businesses are still not willing to reimburse employees for the use of in-flight Wi-Fi.
On the other hand, in-flight internet offers airlines a unique opportunity to provide enhanced services and expand their onboard merchandising efforts. With demand for increased mobile connectivity rising, there is no doubt that in-flight internet services will become more accessible.
5. When you travel how much do you use your smartphone, and what future developments would you like to see?
I use Amadeus Check My Trip to check my latest flight, hotel and car information on my mobile and if I need to make a change, I have my travel agency contact details at hand to call. Equally, if there is a disruption to my flight, Amadeus OneClick keeps me informed of the flight change and new flight details via SMS.
In future, I believe we will see mobile take off as an essential part of the travel value chain, but we will also see social media play a large role in the way airlines and travel agencies communicate with customers. As of June this year, Facebook use in Asia tipped the scales at over 150 million. The travel industry must embrace the communication channels to continue its success.
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