Airline & Airport Strategy Interviews
30-Second Interview – Dean Dacko, Business Strategist Consultant, Canada Jetlines
Last week anna.aero’s Assistant Editor Jonathan Ford sat down with Dean Dacko, Business Strategist Consultant for Canada Jetlines, a planned ULCC, to discuss the carrier’s proposed business strategy, where it will serve, and how it is planning to break-up the Canadian market.
30-Second Interview – Howard Ebison, Commercial Director, East Midlands Airport
Preparing for his first World Routes as East Midlands’ Commercial Director is Howard Ebison. Despite having a busy few weeks ahead as he also finishes an Aviation Development Team re-boot at East Midlands, he found some time to talk to anna.aero’s Editor Marc Watkins.
30-Second Interview – Alex Cruz, CEO of British Airways
Last week anna.aero’s Marta Dimitrova joined British Airways Chairman & CEO Alex Cruz on a special flight between London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airports, during which he announced a major investment in improving the customer experience. While BA has gone through major changes to its passenger services, its network has also seen several developments, about which Dimitrova was curious to find out more.
30-Second Interview – Christine Ourmieres-Widener, CEO of Flybe
Last week anna.aero’s Assistant Editor Jonathan Ford travelled on Flybe’s inaugural flight between Edinburgh and London Heathrow, a launch which broke British Airways’ monopoly between the capitals of Scotland and England. While celebrating the launch he met with Christine Ourmieres-Widener, CEO of Flybe, to discover more about the new boss of the UK’s leading domestic airline.
30-Second Interview – Adrian Littlewood, CEO of Auckland Airport
Last week anna.aero’s Assistant Editor Jonathan Ford travelled to New Zealand on Qatar Airways’ first flight to Auckland, the longest route in the world. While in New Zealand he caught up with Adrian Littlewood, CEO of Auckland Airport, to discover more about the booming city’s recent route developments.
30-Second Interview – Steven Small, Brand Director-elect, Routes
New Routes boss Steven Small has big boots to fill, replacing Katie Bland as Brand Director, who left the route development events company earlier this year after three years in the post. Starting his new role on 1 February, anna.aero grabbed a quick chat with him while he was doing his Christmas shopping in Manchester.
30-Second Interview – Bjørn Kjos, CEO, Norwegian
anna.aero’s Assistant Editor Jonathan Ford caught up with the CEO of Europe’s third largest LCC to discuss why Barcelona is the next European hub for transatlantic flights. Ford was also intrigued to find out why the carrier’s New York service from the Spanish airport will operate into Newark and not JFK, its current New York airport of choice.
Mayor of London: “I’m backing Gatwick”
On 15 July Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, announced that he was backing London Gatwick over London Heathrow to build the UK’s next runway. Khan tells the media why he is backing the nation’s second largest airport, while Stewart Wingate, CEO of Gatwick, is delighted with his Euro ANNIES win.
30-Second Interview – Alexander Schroll, CEO of Castellon Airport
anna.aero’s Assistant Editor Jonathan Ford met with Castellon Airport CEO Alexander Schroll on the day the facility welcomed its second scheduled carrier. Schroll spoke to anna.aero about how the airport has celebrated a successful nine months of operations since Ryanair inaugurated flights from the UK, and to also highlight Castellon’s USPs that are drawing attention for potential future service by new carriers.
30-Second Interview – Kevin Burke, President and CEO, Airports Council International-North America
With one-to-one mega-hub providers like American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines in the same room as LCCs including Allegiant Air, Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines, ACI-NA’s JumpStart® Conference will undoubtedly deliver air service development opportunities. anna.aero recently grabbed a moment with ACI-NA’s President and CEO Kevin Burke to discuss next month’s event in Denver.
30-Second Interview – Lukas Johnson, VP Network & Pricing, Allegiant Air
Allegiant Air welcomed anna.aero to its headquarters in Las Vegas to meet the carrier’s VP Network & Pricing Lukas Johnson on 15 April. During a meeting with anna.aero’s Jonathan Ford, Johnson highlighted the carrier’s development in the US domestic market and why it is considering entering more slot constrained airports such as New York Newark. Other topics included the potential of scheduled international services and what Allegiant Air looks for in an airport it is willing to serve.
30-Second Interview – Michael O’Leary, CEO, Ryanair
Following the announcement of its second Romanian base at Bucharest (Timisoara being #1), Ryanair held a special press briefing on 16 February in the capital of Romania. We got to talk to the airline’s CEO – the one and only – Michael O’Leary about the ULCC’s recent developments in Romania and other key European markets.