• Does Australia have the capacity and infrastructure to meet tourism demand? Is there an oversupply or undersupply of travel services? 
• Are operators fully educated on how best to market and cater for inbound markets?
• What are the facilitation challenges and issues around border protection and visas?
• Does Australia have any competitive advantages that can be leveraged in its destination marketing efforts?
• What are the opportunities around regional dispersal of visitors?
• Raising brand awareness in the digital age - how is industry using data in a smarter ways to convert awareness into actual bookings?
• Can industry collaboration improve messaging and funding available to stimulate inbound markets?

• How does the whole travel ecosystem view the passenger journey? How can each player work together to personalise and enhance the traveller journey? 
• What are the opportunities and implications of AI and robotics? What are some real world applications of AI and how will they impact the future of the aviation industry, from both a customer service and operational viewpoint?
• Passenger processing: Assessing the technologies and processes available to improve operational efficiencies and asset productivity eg with border processing, facial recognition, retinal scanning, fingerprint ID, digital tokens and preclearance
• Leveraging predictive analytics: how to turn big data into actionable information that intelligently understands and delights the customer (and enhances revenue)

• Is this the end of the hub and spoke model as we know it, as new city pairs and new point to point services come online?
• As Australia-Europe becomes reality with PER-LON, what alternative hubs could emerge in the new operating environment?
• How will game changing aircraft affect strategic decision making on capacity deployment to/from international markets?

• Is there room for further growth in O & D markets or is the focus now on linking Australia with long haul destinations through sixth freedom traffic?
• Has Australia’s role in pioneering the growth of the model diminished? What future role will the country play in this space, as the global market continues to grow?
• Will the arrival of new long range narrowbodies like the A321neoLR drive further expansion of the low cost long haul model in this market?

• What are the specific challenges remote communities face in accessing aviation services? 
• What can government and industry do to overcome these barriers?

• Understanding the latest market dynamics, macro trends, realignment and consolidation - and the implications for Australia/South Pacific
• After aviation's best two years, will the good times continue, or is a downturn looming?
• Building sustainable access: are bilaterals putting a constraint on growth in markets where more capacity is clearly needed?  
• As full service airlines and LCCs blend their models, what new dynamics will take shape?

Australia’s airports are undergoing construction projects of varying sizes, including the development of new runways in BNE and MEL. Meanwhile the Western Sydney Airport project is due to commence this year, and includes plans for an aerotropolis and North South rail ink.  

• What are the effects of increased capacity on the domestic market, including the consumer, regional airports and hospitality suppliers (hotels/transport/restaurants)?
• How equipped is the industry to cope with and  facilitate these developments?
• Managing governance of the airspace and concerns with slot management
• How does the airspace system get reformed in light of the new runway capacity?

After decades of indecision, the Australian Government in 2017 pressed ahead with the decision to build Sydney’s second airport, providing much needed capacity to accommodate the anticipated influx of 76 million ppa by 2030. However it is critical that the airport serves as a genuine alternative to Kingsford Smith and does not become a localised regional airport with poor surface infrastructure links.

• Making provisions for surface connectivity: Does the airport need a fast rail link?
• What is the expected impact of the proposed aerotropolis?
• Financing the infrastructure project
• How is the airline customer profile expected to evolve - will the airport remain primarily focused on the low cost market?

In an increasingly digitalised economy, airlines understand the need to innovate in order to cater to growing traveller expectations centred on mobility, seamlessness and personalisation, particularly in relation to the booking and shopping experience. This is not an easy task in the wake of decades of legacy thinking and antiquated distribution systems preventing  airlines from becoming true end to end travel providers. While new industry standards like IATA’s NDC have mapped out a pathway to better airline retailing and -  and indeed the three major GDS and some major airlines are now adopting the standard - there is still a notable chunk of smaller airlines, LCCs, OTAs and travel content aggregators who have yet to undergo full NDC implementation. Are we seeing a new ‘haves’ and 'have nots’ emerging? And, if we are, who is going to be offering services to bridge this gap - will it be the GDS and IT providers, other airlines or speciality providers? Or is this an opportunity for the new disruptive players to get a slice of the distribution pie? 

• Why is digital innovation strategically important to the airline business? 
• Are we seeing a growing gap between the digitally innovative airlines and those without a digital drive?
• How does airline.com compete in the era of conversational converse and new channels like voice, Google Assist and Amazon Alexa? Are there other distribution channels which airlines are underutilising?
• Unlocking the true potential of disruptive players and technology such as blockchain: just how is it going to usurp the existing value travel distribution chain?
• Digital and virtual payments - how are these new payment solutions enabling travel mobility and at what cost?

Inbound tourism is New Zealand’s largest and Australia’s second largest export industry, with favourable macroeconomic conditions, low fuel prices and a depreciating dollar providing the ideal conditions for continued growth. But increasing awareness and stimulating tourism demand is a perennial challenge faced by Australia/New Zealand, which is hampered by the tyranny of distance and high costs relative to neighbouring destinations.

• Does Australia have the capacity and infrastructure to meet tourism demand? Is there an oversupply or undersupply of travel services? 
• Are operators fully educated on how best to market and cater for inbound markets?
• What are the facilitation challenges and issues around border protection and visas?
• Does Australia have any competitive advantages that can be leveraged in its destination marketing efforts?
• What are the opportunities around regional dispersal of visitors?
• Raising brand awareness in the digital age - how is industry using data in a smarter ways to convert awareness into actual bookings?
• Can industry collaboration improve messaging and funding available to stimulate inbound markets?

From voice based commerce during the booking process, to automated check in and inflight wi fi, technological innovations are enhancing the travel experience. Biometrics technology are set to obliterate the physical barriers faced by travellers at all major airport touchpoints such as check in, immigration and security; electronic tagging has enabled real time tracking of baggage; and AI, virtual assistants and chatbots are being deployed to manage myriad customer queries such as booking flights and aircraft delays. Airlines and airports that are investing in process improvements stand to gain from a more engaged and loyal customer base.

• How does the whole travel ecosystem view the passenger journey? How can each player work together to personalise and enhance the traveller journey? 
• What are the opportunities and implications of AI and robotics? What are some real world applications of AI and how will they impact the future of the aviation industry, from both a customer service and operational viewpoint?
• Passenger processing: Assessing the technologies and processes available to improve operational efficiencies and asset productivity eg with border processing, facial recognition, retinal scanning, fingerprint ID, digital tokens and preclearance
• Leveraging predictive analytics: how to turn big data into actionable information that intelligently understands and delights the customer (and enhances revenue)

Australasia’s airports and airports exist in an uncomfortable dichotomy. Each relies on the other, yet both have accused the other of taking advantage of market power, whether it's charging excessive airport fees or inflating airfares on regional routes, depending on who is levelling the accusation. 

In one of the latest salvos, A4ANZ claims that airport charges have provided one of the biggest roadblocks to fleet renewal and route development and that airports have abused their monopolistic power to capture “a disproportionate share” of Australia’s aviation growth. 

AAA argues such claims “ignored the robust negotiations between airlines and airports that take place across the country to deliver runways, terminals and technology to meet passenger needs”. The airport body has also expressed concerns over the airline industry’s market power, arguing “the domestic airline duopoly disadvantages the passenger – particularly in the regions”.

In this debate both A4ANZ and AAA will be given equal opportunity to share their views on the economic reality in the post airport privatisation environment and what this has really meant for airlines, airports and - most importantly - the consumer.

Keynote
Hawaiian Airlines, President & Chief Commercial Officer, Peter Ingram 

Keynote
Tigerair Australia, CEO, Merren McArthur 

Keynote Presentation

Panel: Australia/New Zealand as a source market: Drivers of inbound travel to SE Asia and the Southwest Pacific

Australia/New Zealand is a key market for Southeast Asia. New generation narrowbody aircraft are changing route economics, supporting growth. Bali specifically is highly competitive and continues to grow whilst the Philippines is emerging as an alternative destination. Australia and New Zealand also form the largest and second largest sources of inbound travel to Fiji but further growth is constrained by the current bilateral agreement, which does not look set to change as the flag carrier focuses its efforts elsewhere in Asia.

• What is the demand outlook for Australia/New Zealand to key SE Asian and SW Pacific markets?
• Is protectionism diverting potential travellers away from Fiji to more openly competitive markets in SE Asia?
• Is capacity being optimised between Australia and Fiji? Is there potential for further growth under further bilaterals?
• How does Australia/NZ compare with Asian markets as a source for inbound tourism?
• How are airlines evolving their strategies to differentiate as competition intensifies in SE Asia?
• How will game changing aircraft affect strategic decision making on capacity deployment to/from international markets?

Low cost long haul airlines are rapidly attaining mainstream status globally - it has tripled its share of international seat capacity over the last four years.  This is thanks to a confluence of factors including fuel efficient aircraft technologies opening up economically viable new city pairs, stable fuel prices and the recent launch of several new low cost subsidiaries by full service carriers seeking growth opportunities from servicing leisure/ price sensitive customers on long, thin routes. Australia has played a key role in the growth of low cost long haul airlines (at one stage it held the majority of low cost long haul seat capacity), though there has been little to no growth in recent years, and the country now holds only about 15% of global low cost long haul capacity. However, this is still a significant figure given that Australia has only the tenth largest aviation market globally based on total seat capacity. And the country has a relatively high ratio of long haul low cost to overall capacity - 4% of total capacity, and 10% of international capacity, compared with global long haul low cost operations accounting for less than 1% of total capacity and less than 4% of international capacity. 

• Is there room for further growth in O & D markets or is the focus now on linking Australia with long haul destinations through sixth freedom traffic?
• Has Australia’s role in pioneering the growth of the model diminished? What future role will the country play in this space, as the global market continues to grow?
• Will the arrival of new long range narrowbodies like the A321neoLR drive further expansion of the low cost long haul model in this market?

The Mar-2018 report issued by the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport into airline pricing methodologies for rural and regional areas highlights the significant barriers that exist in regional Australian aviation. Airlines find the environment commercially and operationally challenging due to inelastic demand, the lack of slot availability for regional services at key airports and an inability to scale - not to mention comparatively high airport charges. The end result for the consumer is higher fares and lack of services, which impedes regional economic growth.

• What are the specific challenges remote communities face in accessing aviation services? 
• What can government and industry do to overcome these barriers?

The travel industry has made a major breakthrough following  industry agreement to adopt NewGen ISS from Mar-2018, which includes amendments to IATA Resolution 890 allowing agents to pay for tickets with their own payment cards, and subsequent creation of the Transparency in Payments framework, put in place to enable airlines to gain both greater visibility over the costs of using different payment payments and greater control over payment methods accepted through the agency channel. Other than heralding efficiency improvements in processes and payments for agencies, these changes allows airlines to drive down costs by removing acceptance of high interchange payment methods, and incentivises payment providers to create low cost, innovative forms of payment. It also potentially allows airlines to build, create and establish B2C relationships, for example by working with card providers to merge data sets and gain full visibility over the value of a corporate customer’s spend. But what’s the true benefit of these changes for both agencies and airlines? This debate will unpack the implications of these industry reforms in the Australian context. 

• Will the industry collaborate to make the most of these changes?
• What does TIP implementation look like in practice?
• Do suppliers have the capability to accept newer, lower cost payment methods?
• How are agents amending their payment strategies in light of IATA Resolution 890? Will there be much of a balance shift between use of traditional cards and alternative payments, or the use of agent cards over individual consumer/corporate cards, IATA easyPay?
• What is the likelihood of Australian agencies fully participating in adopting IATA Resolution 890? Are there any obvious benefits - to both the agent and the airline?
• What are the Risks for Airlines? How would risks be managed? Are the airlines willing to allow accept this new form of debt? Who is liable for unpaid debt?
• What are the opportunities for airlines to strengthen their B2C relationships and track corporate spend in the new payment landscape?
• How will these forms of payment impact NDC/One Order?