Page 49 - World Airnews Magazine February 2020 Edition

NEWS NEWS

A NEW DECADE OF SEOUL AIMS TO GROW

CHARTER BUSINESS FOREIGN AIR TRAFFIC

enior executives at a charter specialist Vertis Aviation are s part of the plan to increase

Spredicti ng a decade of diversity as changing social a� - Atraffic to airports in South
tudes, environmental concerns and technological advancements Korea, beginning in January, the gov-

bring new operating models to the international business aviation ernment will grant rights and allot slots,
charter market business. preferably to foreign carriers bringing

Chief Operating Officer of the Switzerland-headquarters Cath- tourists from China.

erine Buchannan said a combination of major influences could According to Lee Sook-ha, an official at

potentially transform business aviation charter operations into a the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and

more efficient and operationally sustainable model. Transport (MLIT), the trade feud with Japan

Following a successful 2019 which saw Vertis profitability has resulted in a drastic reduction of flights
grow as it enhanced its global charter offering with a new US between the two countries. Lee said the
presence, expanded its charter team, and ramped up its third global grounding of the Boeing 737 Max is

party sales offering via the Vertis Charter management pro- also affecting the local airline industry. cially since the "boycott Japan anything" Wonju, Yeosu, Yangyang International, Muan

gramme, Buchanan is assessing what will affect charter activity Low-cost carrier Eastar Jet grounded its feud started in July. International, and Cheongju International.

in the next decade. two Max 8s, and it is costing the carrier MLIT has approved Finnair to operate the In a separate development, effective

Vertis has seen an upward trend in requests and booking of $152,000 a month to support both air-

shared charters and empty legs. She believes this will continue as craft. The airline took delivery of its first first long-haul flight from Busan’s Gimhae in January, Incheon Airport will increase

its throughput to 70 flights per hour, an
International Airport to Helsinki, offering

the ‘on-demand’ and ‘socially primed’ nature of the next genera- Max 8 in December 2018 and the second thrice-weekly services with Airbus A350- increase of five from the current capacity.

tion affects the behaviour of business aviation charter customers. in early 2019. 900s, beginning March 31. The airport, which handled 68.26 million

“The digital native generation are our next set of customers. Lee said that traffic rights will be given passengers in 2018, is projected to grow
Ten of the 15 airports in Korea have
They are empowered by technology which makes them a far to airlines wanting to operate to any been in the red for several years, including 8 to 10 percent in 2019. Q
more informed demographic than ever before. Digital know- point in South Korea, including regional Gunsan, Sacheon, Pohang, Ulsan, Gwangjiu, Article courtesy: https://www.ainonline.

how strengthens their abilities to source empty legs, join mem- airports, which have suffered more finan-
bership organisations that offer shared charter options, and
increases willingness to share information to better fulfil their
travel needs. This will significantly affect the way they book
charters,” said Buchanan.

Vertis has noted that since launching the Vertis Aviation App,

which provides the ability for users to book individual executive jet

seats, source near-real time charter flight information, and access

empty leg data for competitively priced private jet flights, requests
for flights from this new demographic has grown.

The impact of climate change will also be a big driver in changed
charter behaviour through the next decade said Buchannan.

As the climate crisis worsens, flight shaming gains momentum

and alternatives to hydrocarbon fuel are yet to be proven, custom-

ers want to make a positive contribution to carbon offsetting. The

number of ‘green’ programmes is increasing, and charter custom-
ers will increasingly demand means of mitigating their impact.

Charter companies and brokers developing sustainable, long term

options to satisfy this requirement will win out.

“Vertis Aviation will be launching a green campaign this year to

encourage existing customers to consider the impact their travel

has on the planet and attract new environmentally conscious cus-
tomers to the business. We know that the captains of industry will

continue to need to optimise the benefits of executive aviation, Catherine Buchanan expecting a diverse new

and we also recognise there is a need for them to lead the way in decade of charter business models
reducing carbon impact. What requires change from one genera-

tion will be the norm of the next.”
Advancement in technology will be a key transformer of the She said that vehicles yet to be developed will change the charter
charter experience. The amount of data aggregated, stored and model. “We currently charter business jets from airport to airport,

analysed by automated systems will continue to grow. Improved but looking to the next decade I can imagine we’ll be chartering a
methods of data analysis will keep charter brokers and operators pilotless Evtol (electric vertical take-off and landing) machine to

more informed about customer behaviour. transport customers directly from their home or office to airside,

Digitised aviation supporting the Internet of Things will also see where a hybrid powered aircraft will fly shorter journeys, or a jet

aircraft better prepared for each individual passenger as aircraft powered by sustainable aviation fuel will support longer missions.

automatically inform suppliers of requirements for the next leg. We are eagerly awaiting the day we can charter a hypersonic

“This will enhance the charter experience across the whole aircraft to conduct a multi-leg journey in one day too. We’ll all be

value chain as suppliers, operators and brokers better satisfy keeping a close eye on what will take off through the next decade,

customer needs.” it’s going to be one of diversity for sure.” Q
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