Interviews – Page 7
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Airline Business
Air Astana puts post-crisis focus onto domestic and leisure markets
Strong business in the Kazakh domestic market and an increased focus on point-to-point and leisure routes are key to revamped activity at Air Astana as the global pandemic continues to change the airline market.
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Airline Business
Pandemic forces Vistara to press pause on rapid growth
Indian carrier Vistara entered 2020 with plans for rapid growth, but the coronavirus pandemic has kept the airline from meeting its full potential. Vinod Kannan is chief commercial officer (CCO) at Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Indian conglomerate Tata Sons. He served in a number of roles ...
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Airline Business
Tim Clark reflects on Emirates’ incredible journey
As he nears his departure after more than three decades at the heart of Emirates Airline, Tim Clark tells FlightGlobal how the Middle Eastern operator went from minnow to global player
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Airline Business
RwandAir chief Makolo on recovery, Qatar and pan-African aims
The Covid crisis may have created numerous immediate challenges, but RwandAir chief Yvonne Makolo says the carrier has many reasons for optimism about its long-term future
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Airline Business
New Jeju Air boss sees pandemic as defining moment
The chief executive of South Korean low-cost carrier Jeju Air is focusing on the basics as the airline grapples with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. E-Bae Kim has been chief executive of Jeju Air since 1 June, following a 30-year career with Asiana Airlines. His predecessor in the role, ...
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Airline Business
SriLankan focuses on cargo, repatriation pending traffic recovery
SriLankan Airlines chairman Ashok Pathirage has had to navigate an extremely challenging environment since assuming his role in December 2019. A prominent Sri Lankan businessman, Pathirage is also the chairman and founder of local conglomerate Softlogic Holdings, and runs other local companies as well. He joined the national carrier at ...
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Airline Business
Myanmar Airways International bucks trend with planned growth
Myanmar Airways International (MAI) is struggling as much as any airline amid the coronavirus pandemic, but chief executive Saravanan Ramasamy sees opportunity in crisis. The full-service airline is by no means the region’s biggest or most famous carrier, operating a pair of Airbus A319s and a single A320 from its ...
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Airline Business
SkyTeam chief sees crisis creating fresh focus for airline alliances
SkyTeam is marking the start of its third decade with a fresh focus on supporting industry efforts to rebuild passenger confidence in flying, and on accelerating a ‘contactless’ travel experience offering across its alliance members.
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Airline Business
New chief has big plans for ACI, but crisis recovery comes first
The new director general of airports body ACI World has grand plans to increase the profile and reach of the organisation – but knows he must first oversee the industry’s recovery from an unprecedented crisis, as the coronavirus pandemic halves passenger traffic in 2020. “The short-term [goal] is of course ...
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Airline Business
Airlines urgently need winter waiver decision: IATA slots chief
Airlines urgently require regulatory bodies to waive the 80:20 slot rule for the northern hemisphere winter season, according to Lara Maughan, head of worldwide airport slots at IATA. Absent decisions to do so by the end of July – particularly from the European Commission, which has regulatory oversight of half ...
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Airline Business
Qatar Airways chief Al Baker on reactive approach to crisis
A reactive strategy has helped Qatar Airways keep a significant number of aircraft flying in the crisis, says group chief executive Akbar Al Baker, as the airline prepares for the recovery.
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Airline Business
IATA chief De Juniac on challenges ahead for airline recovery
Airlines have been at the sharp end of coronavirus crisis as air travel markets locked down, but the bigger challenge is in how quickly and effectively they reopen. IATA chief executive Alexandre de Juniac believes implementing common standards will be key in global efforts to restore confidence in safe air ...
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Airline Business
Video interview with Qatar's Al Baker on how the airline is handling Covid crisis
In an in-depth and exclusive discussion with FlightGlobal, Akbar Al Baker, chief executive of Qatar Airways Group, explains how the coronavirus pandemic has affected his airline.
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Airline Business
IndiGo gains momentum with India domestic opening
Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo is steadily building back its passenger business after nearly two months on the ground amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Airline Business
Why European regionals fear bailouts will distort competitive landscape
Director general of the European Regions Airline Association, Montserrat Barriga, says that government bailouts are focusing on bigger, state-owned airlines, creating a market distortion for smaller and private operators.
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Airline Business
New AAPA chief sees multilateral effort as key to restoring air travel
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) is optimistic about the future of air travel in the region, but stresses that rebooting the air travel sector will take substantial coordination. Subhas Menon is the new director general of the AAPA, succeeding Andrew Herdman. Prior to joining the association he spent ...
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Airline Business
Air Astana’s Foster eyes tricky return to normalcy post coronavirus
Air Astana chief executive Peter Foster is upbeat about the airline’s future in the post-coronavirus world, but sees a number of challenges before normalcy returns.
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Airline Business
How WestJet reacted quickly to virus – and faced up to tough decisions
When WestJet chief executive Ed Sims drives past the Calgary International airport to his office every morning, he sees a row of parked aircraft, grounded by the coronavirus pandemic, and wonders what fresh hell awaits.
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Airline Business
How Air Baltic is plotting a way through – and out of – the virus crisis
There are many data points that starkly demonstrate the airline industry’s massive challenges during the coronavirus crisis, but Air Baltic is still able to offer a particularly striking one: its forward bookings in early April were down 98% year on year.
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Airline Business
How Etihad aims to manage through coronavirus crisis grounding
Etihad Aviation Group chief executive Tony Douglas believes the business’s ongoing restructuring programme has given the Gulf carrier the agility to better manage its operation through the coronavirus crisis and to position it for when air travel markets reopen.