The FTE Ancillary & Retailing event takes place in Dublin on 11-13 June 2024, co-located with FTE EMEA, and promises to be the world’s definitive revenue-focused air transport show. With a focus on how the worlds of commercial, digital and customer experience can converge more effectively under the event theme of ‘Customer-centric Innovation’, the inspirational agenda has been curated with industry guru Eric Léopold, Founder & Managing Director, Threedot and Content Director, FTE Ancillary & Retailing. In this interview, he shares his perspective on the evolution of airline retailing, identifies key industry trends, and explains how the FTE Ancillary & Retailing agenda will help address those trends.
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Prior to establishing Threedot, Léopold spent 15 years at IATA where he focused on strategy and transformation, leading efforts on important initiatives such as NDC and Simplifying the Business. His is, therefore, a unique perspective on airline retailing. “Advanced airlines are embarking on the transition to 100% offers and orders, which means phasing out legacy processes entirely,” says Léopold. “Some airlines are at the beginning of the journey, working on a business case and implementing an API. Technology providers are investing in new solutions, some of which are based on existing retailing platforms. Advanced travel sellers have built their own technology to source content, while others rely on third-party providers, which may modernise their technology soon. Customers should start witnessing the benefits, in terms of offer transparency, choice and personalisation, without worrying about the complexity of servicing.”
The FTE Ancillary & Retailing event will focus on commercial, digital and customer experience. Of course, ancillaries were invented by low-cost carriers, in an attempt to reduce operating cost by unbundling the airline product. Léopold notes that current trends are both a broad adoption of ancillary and a-la-carte shopping by legacy airlines, and an extension of the range of ancillaries. “The paradox is that airlines were early at building electronic solutions, like PSS and e-ticket, before the internet,” he explains. “When the internet came, they connected their booking systems to the internet, which was quick but did not deliver the shopping experience of new digital platforms. The convergence of commercial, customer and technology promises to solve this issue.”
Léopold highlights two recent examples of airline retailing that he has been particularly impressed by: American Airlines, which is pushing NDC adoption and leveraging corporate customers into this effort, and Lufthansa Group, which is methodically adding more technology partners. “I would add a travel seller example, Spotnana, which has built its own technology and is challenging traditional TMCs that rely on third-party technology providers.”
Generative AI “promises to revolutionise marketing, communications, travel search and planning, and customer service”
In recent years, the Metaverse and NFT emerged as key technology trends. The latest tech trend, which seems even bigger, is Generative Artificial Intelligence, or Gen AI. “It promises to revolutionise marketing, communications, travel search and planning, and customer service,” says Léopold.
As airlines navigate the tech landscape on their journey to becoming fully-fledged digital retailers, Léopold explains that they tend to go step-by-step. “They do their research, make a business case and run some pilots to validate assumptions. After the design phase, they request information from solution providers, select a partner and build a solution. Finally, they roll out the solution in phases, for example creating new distribution channels, then pushing new offers and finally automating delivery and fulfilment.”
Airlines need two things in order to construct the right offer for customers at time of shopping: the right customer-centric mindset and the relevant data. “With the customer in mind, airlines will unleash their creativity and build a product catalogue from which offers are created,” Léopold comments. “With a strong customer data platform, they will learn from customer requests and become better at personalising offers. In the future, customers may delegate their Gen AI avatar to shop for travel.”
FTE Ancillary & Retailing conference agenda highlights
The FTE Ancillary & Retailing conference agenda will deep dive on the needs of travellers going forward and how the sector should adapt and leverage technology to take commercial performance to the next level. It will feature insights from industry leaders, technology giants, disruptors, parallel industries and startups, with a diverse range of keynotes, case studies and panel discussions.
“The agenda tells the story of a customised travel experience and focuses on the latest innovations,” Léopold shares. “We cover the different perspectives, whether you are an airline, a technology provider, a customer or another stakeholder. We mix the keynotes, for inspiration, and the panels, for debates and thought provocation.”
Among the confirmed conference highlights are:
- Keynotes including Anko van der Werff, President & CEO, SAS; Arthur Reijnhart, Executive Director Schiphol Commercial, Royal Schiphol Group; Jamie Heaslip, Irish Strategic Growth Lead, Stripe & International Rugby Legend; Annalisa Gigante, Board Member of Hangar 51 & Head of Innovation, International Airlines Group (IAG); Adrian Dunne, COO, Aer Lingus; Sean Donohue, CEO, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport; Steven Greenway, CEO, flyadeal; and Neal McMahon, COO, Ryanair.
- Transformational airline retailing case studies, featuring Ricard Vila, Chief Digital Officer, LATAM Airlines; Jost Daft, Head of Order Transformation, Lufthansa Group, and more.
- Creating more revenues from less space and resource, featuring Arthur Reijnhart, Executive Director Schiphol Commercial, Royal Schiphol Group; Gerald Ong, Strategy and Commercial Development, Hamad International Airport; Andrew Harrison, Managing Director UK Travel, WHSmith, and more.
- The AI Travel Retailing Symposium, featuring Niels Colemont, Head of New Optimization Programs, Flyr; Swapnal Chouhan, Head of Competence (Airport Management & Commercial), Munich Airport, and more.
- Innovative case studies to drive ancillary success, featuring Seyda Tartar, Group Manager, Commercial IT, SunExpress; Bill McKimm, VP of Travel Sales, eSIM Go; Juliana Ramirez, VP Ancillary Revenue & Digital Experience, Flair Airlines; and Ella Alkalay Schreiber, GM of Fintech, Hopper Technology Solutions.
- Innovative airport strategies for customer and commercial excellence, featuring Mammen Tharakan, Vice President, Investment & Partnerships, King Salman International Airport; Joel Godfrey, Digital Product Director, CAVU; Ahmet Er, Digital Transformation and Channel Management Deputy Manager, iGA Istanbul Airport; and Dilanur Çetinalp, Digital Transformation and Channel Management Supervisor, iGA Istanbul Airport.
- Better optimising and evolving commercial offerings and removing friction for passengers and stakeholders, featuring Adrian Keating, Executive Director Commercial, PLAY Airlines; Jennifer Koontz, Vice President, European Airport Properties & Relations, Enterprise Holdings; Carlos Ruiz, Director of Commercial Management, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and more.
- The FTE APEX Lounge Innovation Summit, featuring Martin Thomas, Implementation Manager, Airports Automation, IAG Airports; Gerald Ong, Strategy and Commercial Development, Hamad International Airport; Alex McEvoy, Product Manager, Airports and Lounges, Aer Lingus, and more.
Looking ahead, Léopold is eager to participate in the co-located FTE EMEA and FTE Ancillary & Retailing events in Dublin in June. “I’m always most excited by the perspective of meeting people in person and having unplanned discoveries, as opposed to the scheduled conference calls we all have. As every year, we will be amazed by the presentations and discussions, and we will go back to our offices full of energy and ideas.”
View the FTE EMEA and FTE Ancillary & Retailing schedule at a glance >> Register for FTE EMEA and FTE Ancillary & Retailing – one registration provides access to both events >>
