Since its inauguration in 2004, China’s largest budget carrier Spring Airlines has built a firm foothold amongst a host of Goliaths. The Shanghai-based low-cost carrier is considered a “renegade” in many ways – it does not distribute on GDS; it charges extra fees for services such as checked baggage, in-flight dining and seat selection; it is slammed for not compensating passengers for flight delays or cancellations; and it has stirred resentment by setting up a passenger blacklist. This brashness translates into bold expansion internationally as the carrier leads the charge into Japan’s domestic air travel market by setting up an office in Japan.   

Having reached a milestone by going public in 2015, Spring Airlines is spearheading innovative marketing strategy “Social Flight” that enables it to directly control the sale of 90% of its tickets, thus cushioning itself from any turbulence arising from the consolidation of distribution channels.   

As the newly-appointed president of Spring Airlines, how will Mr. Wang lead the carrier to new heights? 

The technology innovation has posed significant challenges to the traditional airline distribution mix. So whether improving direct sales and axing agency commission can really help carriers strengthen the control over their distribution. How the airlines build a customer-centric distribution channel? 

The mobile innovation has made the so-called end-to-end air travel possible as OTAs only provide the one-stop solution for travel booking. As all airlines are striving to improve service quality by leveraging the online platforms, they are also looking at ancillary services as the main source to improve profitability. What challenges the airlines are facing in solving the pain points in air travel? What opportunities airlines and OTAs are having in providing ancillary services when they compete for customer loyalty and touch points with customers?

The acquisition of OpenJaw Technology is the first step of oveaseas expansion for Travelsky,what value this acquisition brings to both sides? How Travelsky leverage OpenJaw's expertise and international experience to better serve the Chinese carriers in terms of online distribution and ancillary service offerings?

Airlines struggle with balancing their traditional channels - agencies - with the new channels of OTAs, mobile apps, websites. Chinese carriers especially are behind in shifting to direct distribution. Given the explosion of e-commerce and APPs in China, what is driving this, and what can Chinese carriers do?

Relying on Alibaba’s overall advantage, how Alitrip will leverages big data of over 400 million active users, technical and financial advantages of Alibaba ecosystem to empower airlines’ target marketing, content marketing, member marketing and etc, in order to reach target consumers? In the meantime, how Alitrip will strengthen its presence in business travel, travel finance and loyalty program innovation?

IdeaWorks estimates that the ancillary revenue for global airlines might reach US$ 59.2 billion in 2015, 163% growth on a year-over-year basis. As ancillary services are becoming the key driving offer, how airlines provide the personalized service to travelers at each touchpoint of their travel journey to maximize revenue potential?

It’s inevitable – airlines that deliver cross-channel, cross-screen and multilingual digital experiences will attract and retain users, increase conversion rates and boost revenue generation online. This requires not just consistent branding and information, but also a thorough end-to-end solution that provides users with continuous always-on service. By optimizing digital channels, airlines can enhance the end-to-end user journey experience, enhance the premium perception of the brand and establish a truly international presence.

Based on technology and big data, Baidu is paving the way on improving information service, terminal booking service and experience service, shortening consumers' decision making process, achieving "information is service, what you see is what you get".

Airlines are encountering unprecedented competition nowadays. Under the trend of strengthening direct sales and axing agency commission, airlines face a new challenge on how to combine their advantages and external media power’s to enhance their marketing. In the era of big data, Tencent Social Ads brings up the social big data solution for airlines.

Lufthansa’s bold move of charging GDS booking fee has really shocked the industry. Now they have moved further by building the direct connect with corporations. So how do you foresee the role that airlines and TMCs will be playing in serving business travelers? How they should work together to bring the best value proposition to business travelers?

Big data of LinkedIn’s clients provide insights into global business travelers' behavior and helps airlines reach the most important parts of business travel ecosystems such as global business travelers, TMCs and OTA etc.

For almost all airline loyalty programs, 20% members contribute 80% of revenue. In the mobile age, the competition for customer loyalty is even much harder as they are offered so many options and the switch cost is relevant lower. So how airlines leverage technology innovation and strategic partnership to improve the engagement of loyalty members and build an efficient loyalty program?