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Dallas — During the CAPA Airline Leader Summit 2023 event in Budapest, Hungary, airways We were able to speak with representatives from various airlines, including PLAY’s (OG) CEO, Birgir Jónsson. I had the opportunity to ask about the operations of a low cost airline in Iceland.
PLAY was founded in 2019 by former WOW Air representatives. OG is headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland. The carrier began operations on June 24, 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. It flies to various destinations in Europe and North America, including Amsterdam (AMS) and London Stansted (STN).
Birgil Jonsson Interview
DC: How does PLAY differentiate itself from low-cost and full-service airlines, and who do you see as your target audience?
BJ: It’s no surprise that low-cost models struggled because they had high fixed and variable costs, and they were flying wide airframes at low yields. PLAY offers its customers trans-Atlantic service with affordable narrow-body Airbuses, either point-to-point to Iceland or en route to Europe or North America with a stopover in Iceland We are trying to differentiate ourselves by doing this.
Our target customers are all types of passengers. Whether your trip is for leisure, luxury or business. We hope and believe that great route maps, excellent service and a new, young, narrow-bodied Airbus will appeal to everyone.
The most important part for passengers is excellent customer service. How do you ensure this and what steps are you taking to improve your service?
Quality service is fast and efficient. PLAY offers its customers only simple and fast digital services. Modern digital solutions emphasize how consumers can do business quickly and securely, have access to information, and solve problems easily. Both consumers and businesses find long wait times for services to be disruptive to their daily lives.
Digital services are therefore a great tool for enabling businesses to adapt to agile service. Digital services enable companies to serve many customers at the same time. This way, you save manpower and time by talking to more customers at once, and consumers are happier as a result of shorter wait times and faster deliveries.
How do you decide which new routes to add and what factors do you consider?
First, look at the demand for your destination. Then check if it fits inside the root network. For example, consider aircraft availability.
How do you see the future of the airline industry and how do you plan to position Play Airlines to remain competitive?
With a sustainable future in mind without affecting customer choice, there is increasing collaboration between airlines and airports to connect the world. Competition is essential in this industry to make travel affordable for more people. Without it, ticket prices would rise and affect demand.
PLAY has the advantage that customers can stop in Iceland on their way to Europe or North America. Iceland is a big draw for nature and adventure lovers.
How do you approach the decision-making process at Play Airlines, and what factors do you consider when making strategic decisions?
We are a data-driven company and all decisions are made against data. From the beginning, we emphasized having high-quality, live data to help us make the right decisions faster, every time, to maximize revenue and keep costs down. With all the data organized, it’s easy to analyze the data from all angles and make the best decisions for each department.
How does Play Airlines approach sustainability and the environment? Can you elaborate? How do you reduce your environmental impact?
From day one, we have taken our commitment to operating a sustainable airline very seriously. I will try. PLAY’s sustainability strategy is based on a materiality assessment conducted in its first year of operation (2021).
This was done to prioritize the most important topics related to ESG (Environment, Governance and Social Impact). In addition, targets related to five of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were set. That is, the numbers 12, 13, 5, 8, and 17.
As PLAY is a new and rapidly growing company, reducing our environmental impact is one of our main challenges. The materiality assessment provided an excellent basis for selecting KPIs and identified the most important topics from a sustainability perspective. There is consensus within the executive team that the goal of working towards carbon neutrality should be a top priority.
Actions PLAY has already taken include, but are not limited to, introducing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into its operations as quickly as possible. PLAY complies with the Norwegian and French National SAF Directives which will come into force in 2022.
In the current environment, SAF has challenges regarding accessibility and supply, so PLAY has adjusted its target to aim for at least 2% by 2025, as required by EU law. If possible, aim higher. Additionally, PLAY has worked with Klimate to establish a project on voluntary offsetting of passengers. Between 29 March 2022 and 28 February 2023, a PLAY passenger removed 292.52 tonnes of his CO2 from a flight thanks to the collaboration between PLAY and Klimate.
PLAY will publish its first Annual and Sustainability Report in 2021, where you can see your first carbon accounting. PLAY’s second annual Sustainability Report will be published in early March 2023.
Emphasis was placed on improving computation and data collection in terms of coverage and accuracy. He also operates a young and modern fleet of the A320neo and A321neo, two of the most fuel efficient aircraft in the industry at the moment. This means our aircraft emit the least amount of CO2. Our Sustainability Reports can be accessed on our website here.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the airline industry in the next few years, and how is Play Airlines preparing to address these challenges?
Inflation and the global economic outlook are challenges, but they don’t stop people from traveling abroad. You will see changes in customer behavior. People traveling to Iceland or beyond may have booked further in advance and split the payment.
This trend is very positive for PLAY. This shows that PLAY has gained more trust and recognition. This is one of our biggest goals and challenges as a new airline that has only been operating in Iceland for two years.
How does Play Airlines work to build relationships with frequent flyers and what benefits does it offer to encourage loyalty? Partnerships with other airlines Please tell me more about
PLAY has a great seamless booking flow where customers can easily book by creating an account MyPLAY. Our goal is to consistently provide excellent service throughout the customer journey.
It is always possible that PLAY will offer some form of loyalty program in the future. We are constantly expanding our distribution. For example, we distribute our inventory to easyJet worldwide and are working on more virtual interline contracts and solutions.
Finally, based on your experience with Play Airlines, what advice would you give to someone starting an airline?
Keep it simple. Create a customer journey and choose a strategy based on that journey. Leave options open to keep up with a fast-growing industry, rather than signing long-term deals right from the start. Overall, focus on data from the start. Reliable live data is essential for decision making.
Thanks for your answer, Birgir. I learned a lot about how an airline operates, how Play differs from other airlines to/from Iceland, and their sustainability goals.
PLAY operation, fleet
The April 2021 public offering raised US$47 million, primarily from Icelandic financial institutions, and appointed a new CEO and board of directors. The airline received its Airline Operator Certificate (AOC) from the Icelandic Transport Authority on May 16, 2021 and signed A321neo lease agreements with AerCap and Airbus that month.
PLAY will launch its twice-weekly Reykjavik-London Stansted service on 24 June 2021 with an A321neo aircraft, followed by six other European destinations in June and July 2021. – According to Airline Profile of CAPA – Center for Aviation.
The airline’s plans for CY2023 are to expand the Airbus fleet to 10 aircraft. We currently have 5 Airbus A320neos and 3 Airbus A321neos. OG has ordered an Airbus A320neo and an Airbus A321neo. These aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in the second half of 2023.
Featured Image: Marty Basalia/Airways
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