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Gulf Times Thursday, October 3, 2013

COMMENT
Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Editor-in-Chief : Darwish S Ahmed Production Editor: C P Ravindran

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Speed dating helps airlines plan new routes

The three-day World Routes Summit will attract more than 3,000 delegates drawn from airlines, airports and tourism boards
By Updesh Kapur Doha ext week senior airline executives from around the world will gather in Las Vegas for a networking conference to help chart their future growth plans. The three-day World Routes Summit will attract more than 3,000 delegates drawn from airlines, airports and tourism boards with one prime objective: to persuade airlines to open up new routes. Whether it is the giants of the skies American Airlines, British Airways, Delta, Emirates, KLM, Qatar Airways, Lufthansa to name a few or relative smaller carriers, including Air Astana, Airblue, Tibet Airlines, Macau Airlines, Jetstar Japan, AirAsia and Air Niugini, the stage will be set for a meeting of the minds. Airport authorities representing the likes of London, Oslo, Shanghai, Auckland and Houston or cities not normally on the radar such as Abidjan, Dubrovnik, El Paso, Hamilton, Krakow and Santander, will do a hard sales and marketing pitch to lure carriers. Taking centre stage at the Las Vegas Convention Centre will arguably be the airline network planners individuals who spend day in, day out, creating business plans on route growth strategy. Every airline has such teams of people who are among the

GULF TIMES Has Berlusconi lost the plot with Letta U-turn?
Silvio Berlusconis gamble to bring down Italys grand coalition government spectacularly misred yesterday, raising the question of whether the recently convicted 77-year-old had lost the plot after 20 years on top of the political game. For the rst time in his political career, Berlusconi faced serious opposition within his party, as dozens of senators from the People of Freedom (PDL) objected to withdrawing support from Prime Minister Enrico Letta. The revolt was led by 42-year-old Angelino Alfano, the PDLs deputy leader and deputy prime minister, a soft-spoken former Christian Democrat who, until now, had always played second-ddle to Berlusconi. The PDL leader who, in interviews published even early yesterday, was still insisting he would pull the plug on the government, was forced to bury the hatchet against Letta to stave off the risk of breaking up his party. As he left the Senate after casting his vote of condence, crowds jeered him. Go away, go away, people shouted, as Berlusconis limousine sped away. Meanwhile, his 11th hour turnaround did not seem to placate his critics, as news ltered that 26 PDL lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, were planning to break off from the party and form a separate group. They were being led by Fabrizio Cicchitto, a onetime Berlusconi loyalist and a former parliamentary speaker for the party. Under a much-discussed scenario, PDL dissenters could join forces with former Christian Democrats and other centrists attached to former premier Mario Monti, to form a new, pro-European conservative party, relegating Berlusconi to the political fringe. Letta was hailed as the big winner of the day. The prime minister did not give in an inch to Berlusconis demands for judicial immunity in return for his continued political support, and showed that his government could survive without his backing. Berlusconi loyalists were trying to put on a brave face. Silvio has sacriced himself again, Mario Mantovani said. Between himself and Italy, president Berlusconi always chooses Italy, and he showed it again today, Elvira Savino, another PDL deputy, chimed in. The controversial politician has staged remarkable comebacks in the past, and has seen off previous leadership challenges from former allies. Gianfranco Fini, who broke off with him in 2010, scored a miserable 0.5% at the last general elections in February. Berlusconi is now resisting plans to deprive him of his Senate seat after losing all appeals against a tax fraud conviction which came with a ban on holding public office. He is also challenging a guilty ruling for soliciting sex from a minor and abuse of power.

most empowered company employees as guardians of sensitive information about future plans that the competition would love to get their hands on. These individuals are tasked with evaluating prospective new routes; to assess their viability; to establish whether there is market potential; to analyse passenger trends; to forecast future aircraft needs; to stipulate which aircraft should be deployed on which routes; and ultimately to convince their bosses on whether it is commercially viable to pursue such opportunities.

The World Routes Summit helps get the ball rolling every year
Indeed a tall order, but the weight of responsibility rests on their shoulders as much as on the commercial teams who are burdened with selling the seats. In Vegas, it will be show time! Like speed dating though longer than just a few minutes airports will have 15 minutes to convince the network planners to y planes to their cities before delegates move onto the next scheduled meeting. Tourism boards and, in some cases, local business associations, play an integral role in these meetings. The lure of business to be done in a city and plethora of tourism attractions will be used by the airports to push their case. Its not uncommon for airports to discuss incentives such as offering airlines marketing dollars to help promote a new route, or reduce airport landing fees for a designated period to entice the airline. Contracts,however, are unlikely to be signed as the annual forum supported by similar, but smaller regional

events around the world, provides an opportune entry into markets under one roof and for delegates to forge invaluable relationships. The World Routes Summit helps get the ball rolling every year. But its back at base where the work really starts for airlines as they shape their plans. As an aviation professional who has written about the industry extensively over the years, I have often been asked why airlines operate certain routes, why they dont; and why cant they offer passengers convenient timings avoiding, in particular, those dreaded past midnight ights. At any given time, network planning departments can be assessing anywhere up 50 destinations to add to an airlines portfolio during a strategic timeframe of three to ve years. Invariably the numbers end up being whittled down to only a handful of destinations each year after detailed route evaluation. In the case of each of the relatively young, aggressive airlines based in the Gulf, the gure averages 10 new route additions a year far more than what more established carriers would launch. Operating a route has to make business sense. Flying a plane with fresh air and few passengers from A to B is not an option. Whether it is ying the corporate traveller in numbers as these are the passengers who can make or break an airline with their frequent travel, high-yield payments for seats, or the leisure traveller going on holiday, a new route has to offer the ultimate goal of being protable. Before the real work starts to plan a new route, governments take an active role in the process. Government transport departments of each country go to the negotiating table with global counterparts to

create or enhance air service agreements with each other. The aim is to establish a framework allowing airlines from their countries to y to, and from,other nations. For almost 70 years, the international air travel industry has been governed by treaties set by the so-called 1944 Chicago Convention which determined that no scheduled air services may be operated between, or beyond, nations without permission. Hence, so-called traffic rights have to be negotiated by governments. These agreements not only control the number of ights permissible, but can also govern the number of passengers allowed to be own on routes, hence creating capacity restrictions. It is the level of economic benet air services provide that governments take into consideration during the negotiating process. There has to be national interest. Sounds archaic, but this system still exists with thousands of bilateral air service agreements in place simply to protect countries from foreign competition that could affect the viability of home-grown airlines. When passengers complain there are not enough ights to a particular destination, this highlights the issue of demand outstripping supply. Either the government treaties do not allow for more capacity or the airline in question does not have enough aircraft to increase frequency. So next time you read articles of specic air service agreements being signed between countries, this demonstrates there is interest for new air services so expect airline network planners to be hard at work preparing fresh business plans. Updesh Kapur is a communications professional, writer and travel expert.

Letta was hailed as the big winner of the day

A protester on the East steps of the House at the US Capitol in Washington, DC yesterday. The US government is in a forced shutdown after lawmakers have failed to pass a spending bill.

Intelligence chiefs see insidious threat to US

By Patricia Zengerle Washington S intelligence community leaders yesterday warned that the government shutdown, now in its second day, is an insidious threat to national security that will increase the longer thousands of workers are off the job. Ive been in the intelligence business for about 50 years. Ive never seen anything like this, James Clapper, the US director of National Intelligence, said at a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the eavesdropping programmes. This (the shutdown) affects our global capability to support the military, to support diplomacy and foreign policy matters. The danger here is that this will accumulate over time. The damage will be insidious, so each day that goes by the jeopardy increases, he said.

Congress inability to agree on budget legislation caused a partial government shutdown that was in its second day yesterday, with no end in sight. The last time the government was closed to this extent was in 1995 and 1996.

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This affects our global capability to support the military, to support diplomacy and foreign policy matters
Clapper and General Keith Alexander, director of the National Security, spoke at a hearing in a Senate office building left quiet with thousands of workers furloughed because the

government was largely closed down. Intelligence agencies are already facing an outcry over the extent of the governments eavesdropping on Americans telephone and Internet communications. Clapper said 70% of civilian intelligence workers had to be furloughed this week because they were not deemed to be addressing an imminent threat to life or property, although that number would be adjusted if the shutdown continues. We will make adjustments depending on what we see as the potential threats to life and property, to quote the law, he said at the hearing on oversight of the intelligence agencies collection of communications data. Clapper said the law forced the extensive furloughs, and that the agencies were focused on the most severe threats and supporting troops in Afghanistan and other operations overseas.

US intelligence agencies have been under scrutiny - with the public and lawmakers demanding changes, since former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked information starting in June that the government collects far more Internet and telephone data than previously known. Alexander, the NSA director, said furloughs related to the shutdown were hurting morale and that his agency risked losing thousands of PhDs, computer scientists and mathematicians forced off the job by the shutdown. Our nation needs people like this and the way we treat them is to tell them, you need to go home because we cant afford to pay you, he said. Clapper said the agencies risked losing valuable staff, especially after layoffs forced by the so-called sequestration budget cuts that went into effect earlier this year. This is a dreamland for foreign intelligence agencies to recruit, he said.