Back to Regional e-Newsletter LAC Q3 2010
Welcome
Norbert Steiger
Sales Vice President
Latin America & Caribbean
The air transport industry is seeing a new breed of traveler: the digital traveler. The digital traveler is one who expects information relevant to his journey to be available on his mobile device.
The same mobile technology that satisfies the digital traveler promises an exciting future for the industry as a whole. It provides many opportunities to innovate at every point along the passenger journey. It also enables airlines, airports, governments, civil aviation authorities, ground handlers and other key players in the industry to work together in a more efficient way.
Currently, there are 3.3 billion mobile-phone users in the world, and 1.4 billion Internet users. According to the SITA / Airline Business 2010 Airline IT Trends Survey, 70% of airlines have a strategy in place to use the passenger's mobile phone as a distribution channel to sell tickets.
Here in Latin America, those numbers are more modest - but, nonetheless, Internet penetration is higher than world average, and the economy has been responding positively to the global crisis. According to the International Monetary Fund, our regional growth forecast is between 4.5-5% for this year. Brazil is expected to see growth up to 7%. This economic growth is driving a corresponding growth in air traffic.
Congestion is already a reality in many of our key cities, including Brazilian airports that will be under the government investment plan for the 2014 World Cup. Domestic air traffic should increase by 49% in the country by then.
Since the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, SITA has been providing technology to enhance airport services in cities where major events are held. CUTE technology was developed and introduced in 1984 specifically to meet the demands of airlines operating in Los Angeles. The same technology has been improved since then and is still responsible for major changes in airports worldwide - including Latin America and the Caribbean.
In South Africa, SITA provided the equipment and infrastructure for both agent check-in and passenger self-service check-in via kiosks. During the Olympic Games in Beijing, our experience and technology helped the airport to operate 1,900 flights per day compared to its normal average of 1,150.
The digital traveler demands technology at his fingertips, including the technology to find the closest airport and book flights on his iPhone. Malaysia Airlines already enables its digital travelers to use their GPS devices to display all airports in the area where the airline flies, allowing them to find flights and book tickets. Malaysia Airlines also sell tickets using iPad MHKiosk, where digital travelers can pay with a credit card and receive confirmation via SMS and e-mail. I invite you to learn more about these new technologies by watching our videos and visiting Blogs@SITA.
On behalf of SITA's team in Latin America and the Caribbean, I encourage you to work together with passion and with the spirit of innovation in this inspiring region.
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