The 2010 Singapore Airshow opens this morning against a backdrop of dire warnings about the state of the airline industry. The air transport sector needs to change fundamentally from top to bottom if it is to pull out of the plunge it took in the wake of the recent financial crisis, according to speakers at yesterday’s Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit.
Top officials effectively said that airports, air traffic control providers and other suppliers need to stop ripping off airlines and their customers, and that governments must stop dragging the industry down into a mire of knee-jerk legislation.
The conference heard the following demands: that airports and suppliers need to share the risk and pain of economic downturn with airlines; security should be modernized and streamlined; the use of biofuel should be advanced to meet ambitious environmental targets; and liberalization of market access should be much more widespread.
