What is the outlook for Asia-Pacific corporate travel in 2004?
Asia has about 15 per cent of our business and 25 per cent of turnover. In terms of staff, OAG has 26 in Asia.
We are seeing an increasing amount of change and rebuilding of travel, and we’re expecting sentiment to firm up by March. Airlines are putting in new routes. There is a sense of stability and recovery coming through clearly.
Our view of Asia is it is a critical part of our business and we expect it to make up a third of our business eventually. This is driven by strong growth of economies in this region. We’ll see further growth in Korea, China, Japan, Singapore and India.
How will you be expanding your presence in Asia this year?
The opening of the Beijing office is in addition to OAG’s existing offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. The OAG Executive Flight Guide China is a new product specifically designed for individuals or companies trading or expanding into China. It will be the only printed monthly flight schedule guide available in the China region and will contain the most up-to-date information from more than 90 airlines, including all major Chinese carriers. A similar product will be launched for Japan in March.
How do you see your business evolving over the next few years?
We consolidate our databases on flight schedules, which are supplied to all the key global distribution systems (GDSs). Our expertise allows us to run a series of data products to airlines and GDSs, such as Internet timetables to airlines, and downloadable schedules to PDAs. There is a family of products for the Intranet and Internet, including OAG flights, our online product.
My personal knowledge indicates that the penetration of our product in leisure and point-to-point markets is easier to do online.
But corporates are using OAG Flights for example, to have more control in the planning process.
This is good for us, but this does not show they will not book through TMCs anymore.
All our electronic products are starting to carry flight status information. This opens an opportunity for us to reach new groups – such as chauffeur companies, meeters and greeters, taxi firms and corporate travel planners themselves.
We are reviewing the need for a local version of the travel planner. Within that development, there is a whole range of downloadable products we can provide, for example, city pairs for the PDA. It’s very useful for corporates.
Is the changing aviation scene – low-cost carriers, new air services agreements, etc – an opportunity for OAG?
Low-cost carriers are shaking people’s perceptions regarding what the price of a seat is worth. People are also becoming aware of the use of connections to manage costs. Some are willing to give direct flights a miss in exchange for a seat in a premium class. This is where our products are particularly relevant because they show travellers the other possibilities, the alternative ways to travel.
