The ability for airlines to find unserved routes is gone, according to Alex de Gunten, executive director of ALTA, during a session at yesterday's World Routes Development Strategy Summit. "There really isn't something out there that hasn't been tried." He added that opportunity comes from growing routes in line with the GDP of existing markets.
Latin America is one such hotspot. Its economy and travel demand has been greatly touted but de Gunten says only carriers that invested in the market years ago are "reaping rewards". One reason for this is infrastructure. According to de Gunten by 2014, 14 of Latin America's 16 airports will be congested - meaning new airlines will find it hard to get into the market.
Another area that is having its growth restricted is the northern triangle; northern China, Korea and Japan. According to Peter Harbison, executive director of CAPA, who spoke on the panel with de Gunten, the region could yield an extra 200 million passengers if it wasn't for regulatory constraints. The Chinese market, he noted, is not yet connective but it has the ability to be so, also Chinese carriers will look to grow international markets for which alliances will play an important role. He noted that Japan is becoming more liberalised and that it has a large premium market, which is likely to see growth next year.
(additional reporting by Mary-Anne Baldwin, Editor - Airline Fleet Management)
Related Content
