Business aviation 10 years from now
Today I’m in Brussels for the EBAA (European Business Aviation Association) 37th AGM.
I’ll be on the panel for a debate session entitled Business Aviation 10 Years from now: What are our expectations?
Forward-thinking in our industry is one of my favourite subjects. And it strikes me as fitting that the evening dinner will take place at Atomium – the stunning, futuristic-looking structure in Brussels. At 102 metres high, with its nine interconnected spheres, the Atomium represents an elementary iron crystal enlarged 165 billion times.
Futuristic as it looks, it was actually designed by engineer André Waterkeyn for the 1958 Expo in Brussels, the World Fair that was all about looking ahead to the future. I wish we could show a photo of the Atomium but use of its image is protected by unusually strict copyright laws! The Atomium website shows how it looks.
When it comes to the world of European business aviation, EBAA is the central nucleus in a very fragmented market of private jets, behaving like atomic particles.
Until recently for many customers finding the right business jet has been like a complicated and time-consuming scientific experiment. So it’s no surprise that some customers would select one company and use them constantly, ignoring the options to compare the market.
This was the same situation in the airline industry until customers started using the internet to compare and book their flights from 2000 onwards.
Suddenly individual airlines and especially the low cost carriers could market to a wider audience.
Meta search sites such as Skyscanner and Online Travel Agents started mapping out these complicated arrays of aircraft, routes and prices – and the power shifted to the consumer.
The same is now happening in the private jet industry, which is for me is THE key change we’ll see over the next 10 years. The web and advance software tools are giving companies like PrivateFly the competitive edge over traditional offline brokers. Customers are demanding instant prices and a fast comparison of the entire market – all with an assurance of safety and customer service.
Just like particle physics, the private jet industry is crowded with many players flying around in what appears to be an unpredictable patterns. Our challenge as an industry – and here at PrivateFly – is show the customer just how simple booking a private jet can be.
So I’m looking forward to discussing this industry online revolution with the rest of the panel: Moderator Richard Koe, of WINGX Advance; Bernhard Fragner of GlobeAir; Bengt Grafström of Grafair; Marwan Khalek of Gama Aviation; and Olivier Villa of Dassault Aviation. It promises to be an exciting debate.
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