THE SCIENCE OF AIR SERVICE DEVELOPMENT
Adelaide airport secures much sought-after China service using OAG Analyser platform.
Adelaide Airport has reinforced its position as one of Australia’s fastest growing airports. Growth has come via a combination of new routes and increased capacity and frequency on existing services.
As head of the team responsible for delivering this growth, Jonathan Cheong, Head of Aviation Business Development, spends much of his time engaged in attracting airlines to start new services, and working with existing carriers to grow services. His team relies heavily on having the right tools and data, to provide the substance for these conversations, and OAG’s analyser is at the heart of everything they do.
Airlines need a credible flow of information from airports
Airlines typically know what they want to do in relation to network expansion, but they need a credible flow of information with which to make decisions. Having access to OAG’s data and analysis, gives Adelaide an advantage as they can discover trends and competitive information, enabling them to present credible business cases with robust supporting data.
Challenge
In 2017, Adelaide was keen to secure a direct China service, but required the data and commercial insight to create and support the business case.
They attribute a large part of their success to OAG’s Analyser Platform data at the start of that journey. As Jonathan says, "we subscribed, we used the tools, and we got a new route”.
Solution
When discussing route potential and growth, having the right tools, that provide the right data, is fundamental to ensuring airports have a compelling business case to bring to airlines.
What lies behind Adelaide securing their much sought after direct China service, was the preparation of in-depth business cases using data from OAG’s Traffic Analyser, and then quantifying the market potential against them.
Using data from OAG’s Traffic Analyser, the Adelaide Airport team were able to show China Southern what the market growth was between Guangzhou and Adelaide, and then for markets beyond Guangzhou to Adelaide. They also used OAG Airline Schedules Data to understand how a possible Adelaide – Guangzhou service could allow passengers to connect at Guangzhou onto other routes. They also knew that the route would be a good fit with China Southern’s strategy to create a hub at Guangzhou between Australasia and Europe.
The Pursuit of Capacity Growth is a Science
The data from OAG Schedules and Traffic Analyser is core to Adelaide Airport’s approach of scientifically growing capacity, and they use it regularly to monitor airline performance, and identify opportunities.
They have now adopted the China service business case approach as their standard, and now replicate this for all their route proposals. They use Analyser to focus on market share, and how airlines are performing, which enables them to begin discussions with airlines about opportunities for growth.
Use Data To Engage Airlines In Growth Discussions
Another recent success was Air New Zealand’s decision to up-gauge their Auckland service from an A320 to a B787 Dreamliner. Analysis of Traffic Analyser data highlighted the scope for a business class cabin on the route. And that gave the team an opportunity to engage Air New Zealand in discussions about how best to do that. Following the change in late 2017, Adelaide now benefits from an additional 1,000 seats per month on the route, and greater choice for passengers in terms of cabin options.
Proactive And Reliable Service
What has impressed Adelaide Airport the most beyond the data, is the service they receive from the OAG team. Having great products is critical, but what really makes it successful for them is the level of customer service, which in their own words they describe as awesome.
Jonathan and his team are using a powerful combination of their experience and knowledge, supported by OAG data to win new routes and secure growth for Adelaide. They feel that the OAG Analyser product suite offers them value for money and now can’t imagine being without it.
"When considering different vendors, it was OAG’s coverage confidence, transparency and uptime that made them stand out, not to mention the support and technical documentation available.
It’s so important for us to have accurate data that we can always access, which is why we selected OAG."
Jonathan Cheong, Head of Aviation Business Development, Adelaide Airport
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