For the first time this year, demand for flights and passenger numbers have regained their long-awaited pre-pandemic level, the LETA News Agency was told by Edvinas Demenius, CEO of the Latvian-based SmartLynx Airlines.
Demenius said that overall, the full-service aircraft charter industry (ACMI) has had a positive outlook this year as demand has continued to grow.
“Still, our industry has had a year full of transformation and challenges,” the CEO says. “Yes, demand has increased, but the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are still being felt.”
Overall, he added, the sector suffers from a serious shortage of resources such as airplanes, spare parts, technicians, etc.
“There’s been a lot of talk this year about rising costs related to labour, materials and administrative functions, and that has forced all airlines to review their costs,” Demenius explains. “SmartLynx took this step too late and found that some items were three times more expensive than had been the case at the beginning of the year.”
The company devoted much attention and resources on improvements to its operational and administrative work.
“SmartLynx has expanded its fleet and its team rapidly over the past few years, but we must remember that an airline with nearly 70 aircraft can no longer base its work on the same principles as a company with 20,” the CEO notes. “We changed our internal structures this year to adapt our processes to future growth. We expect them to bear fruit over the next several years.”
Demenius also said that upward trends this year include the geographical expansion of ACMI, with several regions of the world having ACMI airlines registered for the first time.
An example which the CEO cited is Thai SmartLynx, which was established by the parent company Avia Solutions Group. This is the first ACMI airline in Thailand to operate air services throughout Southeast Asia in partnership with SmartLynx. ACMI airlines are also now based in Brazil and in Australia.
Demenius expressed confidence that the ACMI industry will continue to expand into other regions, because demand is always on the rise.
“Regional expansion is important,” he says. “We must recognise, however, that Europe will in any event remain the main core market for the leasing of aircraft during the summer period.”
The businessman also insisted, though, that this year, more than in the past, climate conditions significantly impacted processes in that SmartLynx operates in many parts of the world where weather conditions are very diverse – India, Turkey, Africa and Europe.
“Maintaining our aircraft in good condition has been a technical challenge in terms of maintenance, supply of parts, logistics and planning,” Demenius says. “Regularly scheduled flights from Europe to India are very different from domestic flights, but the SmartLynx technical and logistics team did a tremendous job. We will finish this year with a lot of valuable training for our airline employees.”
Source: BNS
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