Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), through the KL International Airport (KLIA), should take advantage of growth in the Asia Pacific aviation market,…
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), through the KL International Airport (KLIA), should take advantage of growth in the Asia Pacific aviation market, says Mike Berman, commercial director for Airport Strategy & Marketing Ltd, UK (ASM).
The Asia Pacific region has the biggest growth in the aviation market in the world and KLIA should take advantage of this, he told Bernama here on Tuesday on the sidelines of the ongoing The New Route Asia, a regional forum on airline route development.
Quoting the International Monetary Fund`s projection of a global economic growth of 4.8 percent, he said that Asia, with its strong fundamentals, was well placed to benefit from the economic upturn.
Asia, meanwhile, is poised to grow 7.5 percent in 2004.
With KLIA working together with the Ministry of Tourism, there will be a big push. Apart from that, I am sure we will see a lot more flights from Europe heading towards KLIA, he said, adding that MAHB and the ministry were working towards it.
ASM which organised the The New Route Asia forum, provides consultancy services to airports and MAHB is one of its clients.
On the forum, Berman said it was designed to bring airlines and airports together to discuss future market opportunities and air services within the Asia Pacific region.
Hosted by MAHB, the event has attracted the participation of more than 150 airports as well as members from the airline industry.
Berman said the forum provided an opportunity to highlight KLIA and its ability to drive Asia and regional carriers` development, factors essential for supporting the development of the KLIA hub and for KLIA to vie for connecting traffic from and around the Asia Pacific region.
He said that the forum also cut down on the time for travel and other processes required before deals are made between airlines and an airport.
At the forum, airport personnel can meet 20 to 30 airlines over a two-day period and start establishing contacts, and prepare for future discussions, Berman said.
In September, 2004, we will be organising the 10th World Route Development Forum in Madrid, Spain. The 2005 Routes expects more than 250 airlines to attend, including majors, regional, low cost, start-up, cargo and IT/Charter, he said.
As for airports, around 450 from all over the world are expected to attend the event, he said.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
