Airlines call for more focus on Asia Pacific aviation infrastructure

Routes Asia has opened in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, with renewed calls for regulators and airports to address infrastructure issues in the region with senior executives of some of the region’s fastest-growing airlines highlighting it as one of the biggest issues still impacting growth and development in the region.

Speaking on the opening afternoon at the event’s Strategy Summit on March 6, 2016, in a panel session entitled ‘What Asia Needs Right Now Is…’, IATA Regional Vice-President Asia-Pacific and panel moderator Conrad Clifford said 100 million passengers were expected to enter into the Asia-Pacific market each year for the next 20 years. However, members of the panel warned this prediction could fail to materialise unless the region’s problems with infrastructure were quickly addressed.

Andrew Cowen, Chief Executive Officer, HK Express said: “Infrastructure is the biggest issue. There’s a mismatch in our opinion… in the time line for airports. What we are all seeing, understand and accept is the low-cost carriers in general are creating a lot of new demand that’s not really picked up in these bigger forecast models for future infrastructure. We really need to address that.”

Joy Caneba, Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia Philippines added that better infrastructure would also make it easier for airlines to operate more effectively, a strategy that is particularly important for budget operators which are seeking to minimise to develop as efficient an arrivals and departure process to keep costs to a minimum.

Alexander Lao, Vice President Commercial Planning, Cebu Pacific agreed the issue needed resolving but warned airports not to pass on new problems to the airlines. “We do want to see a lot of private investors in airports but we do stand against commissions and runway fees and it becoming more expensive to operate,” he said.

Lao added that airports also needed to consider capacity growth and the ability to deliver the required projects on time and said the future needs of the growing market could also be met by not simply focusing on the region’s primary airports.

“It is really critical for us to develop secondary airports,” he added, noting that this would also help airlines help keep ticketing prices down – a vital issue in a market known for its price sensitivity.

The panel’s sole airport representative, Andrew Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of Mactan-Cebu International Airport in the Philippines said one way airports could keep costs down is by looking at including more commercial options at the facilities, such as increasing the number of shops. “The airports need to work together to deliver projects and services that meet the clients’ requirements. They can’t be too expensive,” he said.