The aviation industry has a busy year ahead of it no matter what angle you look at it from. First up on the priority list will be a smooth summer with a dynamic of strong demand playing out against planned strikes across Europe by air traffic control employees as well as airline and airport workers. During Phocuswright Europe 2023, Tamur Goudarzi Pour, CCO at Swiss International Air Lines, said that while the industry is “still in recovery phase and not out of the woods yet,” he expects a better experience than in 2022. He was joined by Rogier van Enk, senior vice president of customer engagement at Finnair, who said that compared with a year ago, customers are far more likely to help themselves via the carrier’s website and app. He added that online self-service has increased to 75% of customers from 25% in the past. Both panelists on the "Making Flying Fun Again" session also discussed developments with IATA’s new distribution capability (NDC) technology standard and whether a carrot or stick approach works better. Goudarzi Pour said it’s more about “convenience and value add for the customer” as well as the ability for airlines to have control over their own content, while van Enk added the industry had to take some “hard actions.” Story has more.<br/>
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In a very different network development, LOT Polish Airlines has added non-stop flights from Wrocław to Seoul Incheon. Poland's sixth most populous metro area, Wrocław has around 1.1m people. Not surprisingly, the 8,043 km route will be the city's only long-haul route. Beginning on November 3rd, it will operate on Fridays using three-class, 252-seat Boeing 787-8s. The schedule is as follows, with all times local: Wrocław to Seoul: LO2005, 16:25-11:45+1 (11h 20m block); and Seoul to Wrocław: LO2006, 08:50-14:25 (13h 35m) the aircraft will run from Seoul to Wrocław and back. This is because the operating equipment is, of course, based in Warsaw and will therefore route Warsaw-Seoul-Wrocław-Seoul-Warsaw. The new non-stop service means that Warsaw-Seoul flights have been reduced from five weekly to four. Booking data shows that approximately 33,000 people flew between Wrocław and Seoul in 2019, reduced to around 22,000 in 2022 due to the coronavirus. In 2019, the South Korean capital was by far Wrocław's largest unserved long-haul market, three times larger than number two, Toronto. Obviously, most people flew via Warsaw, with Wrocław by far the most popular source of transfer passengers for LOT's Warsaw-Seoul flights. This partly explains the carrier's frequency reduction. A good chunk also flew Lufthansa, mainly via Frankfurt but also Munich.<br/>
Ethiopian Airlines is returning to Medina, its fourth destination in Saudi Arabia and 12th across the Middle East. Launched in 2017, regular flights to Medina – which revolves around pilgrims for Umrah – continued until mid-2020. While flights mainly used Boeing 737-800s, schedules data shows that the A350-900, 737-700, 767-300ER, 777-200LR, 777-300ER, 787-8, and 787-9 were all used at times.<br/>According to OAG/Cirium and now bookable, Africa's largest airline will serve Medina – 1,073 miles (1,726 km) away – from August 2nd. Oddly, there is little lead time from going on sale to taking off. Served four weekly year-round for Umrah, it is scheduled as follows, with all times local. It will use 154-seat 737-800s, with 16 seats in business and 138 in economy. Given the distance, the block time seems very long: Addis Ababa to Medina: ET442, 23:20-02:50+1 (3h 30m block), and Medina to Addis Ababa: ET443, 03:55-07:25 (3h 30m) While the schedule may appear horrendous, it is for one reason: to maximize two-way connectivity across sub-Saharan Africa over the carrier's growing Addis Ababa hub. This is as important for Medina as it is for other routes.<br/>
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has become the first Japanese airline to achieve IATA’s CEIV Fresh certification as the country looks to increase exports of perishables. The certificate shows that a company properly handles perishable food products and aims to reduce product damage and waste caused by environmental factors, such as temperature changes during handling and transportation. ANA’s quality control system at Tokyo Haneda Airport, encompassing personnel, training, quality control and handling manuals for transporting perishable goods, was recognised by IATA, leading to certification. “Delivering consistent and high quality to our customers across our operations is crucial to ANA’s core business values,” said Kenichi Wakiya, executive vice president of ANA and president of ANA Cargo. “This recognition from IATA reaffirms ANA’s commitment to upholding high standards in handling, training and quality control of goods transportation. We remain committed to surpassing quality expectations and continuously improving our transportation processes.” ANA said that Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has set a target to increase exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products to Yen2trn in 2025 and yen5trn in 2030. “The target requires selecting transportation operators who maintain freshness through a high-quality control system,” ANA said.<br/>