Inflight industry stakeholders descended on the very first TRT Tradeshow at the London Gatwick Hilton Hotel for a spirited debate, which threw up a plethora of ideas on how to change the current antiquated inflight retail model.

 

TRT UK (Travel Retail Training UK) joined forces with TRBusiness magazine, to add another dimension to the debut TRT Tradeshow event for inflight retail and catering. This morning a ‘Question Time’ inspired workshop took place on the tradeshow floor before it opened for business.

 

Back in July TRBusiness invited the inflight industry to send in its questions, anonymously, to put to an experienced panel of four inflight retail veterans comprising; Max Williams – who is spearheading the new inflight business called Big Retail for Air Asia; John Baumgartner Director of Business Development at Nordic travel retail specialist, Inflight Service Europe AB; Anthony Fletorides, who has recently made the move from Tourvest to join DFASS UK as General Manager and finally David Spillane Global Travel Retail Sales Director.

 

Spillane, standing stage left, suggested there should be a way to reduce the journey of the average inflight retail product.

 

Today, TRBusiness chaired a stimulating workshop, which saw the panel of industry experts answer a shortlist of those questions already submitted in July and August, along with some from the audience.

 

TRBusiness Deputy Editor and Managing Editor online, Charlotte Smith.

 

CONTENTIOUS TOPICS

The workshop touched on some contentious topics; such as margins, price comparison from the Internet, inefficient supply chain processes, shrinkage, security as well as pre-order vs the trolley.

 

While the topics weren’t new, the way the panel dealt with them was commendable. In a bid to host open and honest dialogue the four panelists were surprisingly transparent, often sharing sensitive information and age-old advice.

 

Williams [right] and Fletorides [left] also commented on the recent decision by Delta Airlines to drop its inflight retail programme [impacting concessionaire DFASS]. Both panelists believed this to be an isolated case, which would not have a domino effect on other US airlines.

 

Spillane spoke for all inflight suppliers when he called for a more cohesive relationship between airlines and airports, which could help to reduce the journey that products have to make travelling to and from the aircraft and the warehouse where they are stored.

 

Baumgartner [right] made a very convincing argument for the pre-order model [and not just for the Nordics], but was challenged by those in the audience who believe this model ignores the impulse shoppers. It was agreed by most that the inflight industry is not quite ready to give up its beloved trolley, although many shared the view that there is a very real possibility that it may become obsolete in the future.

 

Video highlights from the panel session will be available to view on TRBusiness.com shortly and a full-write up will appear in the October issue of TRBusiness.