IATO Special - XXIII Annual Convention, September 1-8, 2007

DAY ONE: SESSIONS
Session One: Regulators and airline panel discussion
Session Two: Etihad's growth story in India: Understanding the role of Middle East airlines in serving the US / Europe and India market
Session Three: CEO Executive Interview: The Aviation Leadership Challenge
Session Four: Driving India aviation growth through OEMRO Partnership
Session Five: Panel discussion - Crafting the right revenue management strategies to achieve maximum yield and profitability
Session Six: Jet Airways' revenue management strategy - Developing new value propositions for the passenger market in face of stiffening competition
Session Seven: Customer Focused Enterprise: The Airline of the future
Session Eight: Panel discussion - Leveraging technological enablers to boost the efficiency of airline systems and business processes
Session Nine: SpiceJet's success story: Creating an effective on-line distribution strategy to boost revenue streams via the internet
Session Ten: Case Study presentation on Changi Airport International: Leveraging on the new investment opportunities arising from India's recent Merchant airport Programme

DAY ONE: NEWS
Leading Indian carriers in talks with AeroMobile for air mobile services


Session Two :

Etihad's growth story in India: Understanding the role of Middle East airlines in serving the US / Europe and India market


By Kanika Mehta | Mumbai

The second business session of the day focused on the growth story of Etihad Airways, its business strategy and the challenges faced while tackling issues pertaining to foreign ownership and bilateral relations. The speaker for the session, James Hogan, CEO, Etihad Airways said, “The airline, which is positioning itself as a major long haul carrier, has a great opportunity in India. We are looking at branding Etihad as convenience airlines wherein we can fly passengers to the desired far away destinations not only in the Middle East and Gulf but also in Asia, Europe and Africa and then fly them back to their city. Considering that Etihad is a relatively new airline, we are still looking at routes globally to increase operations. We want to operate across the world from our hub.”

During the business session, it was revealed that Abu Dhabi, which is investing USD 170 billion in the tourism sector, will be coming up with around 75 hotels within the next ten years. Apart from this the Abu Dhabi Airports Corporation has invested USD eight billion for constructing a new airport; slated to come in place by 2012. "We are very bullish about our operations and are focusing on service. With all the other indicator hitting in the right direction, Etihad is aiming at aggressive communication," offered Hogan.

Addressing the challenges faced by the airline, Hogan maintained that the main areas creating problems for Etihad are fuel, infrastructure, regulatory policies and staff for the airline. "Infrastructure is definitely a problem and we need to equip our airports with the latest facilities and the desired manpower, if we want to increase our operations and expand our presence. The new airport, which will come up by 2012 is a step in this direction. The fuel prices are increasing globally and the aviation industry across the world is feeling its aftereffects. For recruiting more staff, we are attracting candidates towards our pilot programme. But for candidates applying from other countries, lifestyle and living in Gulf is an issue," said Hogan.

While discussing the trend of mergers, acquisitions and alliances, he explained that Etihad is not looking at partnerships and alliances. "We prefer bilateral relations with countries. Though we are very clear on not having an alliance, in order to extend a journey for a customer, we will definitely look at partnerships,” he added.