Hong Kong Airlines and DFASS celebrated the 1st year of their partnership – in Hong Kong earlier today – which has apparently resulted in a revenue increment of +78% YOY and saw the launch of DFASS’ AirCommerce solution, which enables live credit card authorisation.

 

Hong Kong Airlines and DFASS Group developed a new in-flight duty-free programme called SkyShop, back in January 2014, which the carrier said it expected to lift in-flight sales by +30%.

 

However, according to DFASS, duty free sales on board Hong Kong Airlines (HKA) have actually grown 78% YOY and sales per passenger are also said to have risen by 56% YOY. “2014 was a fruitful year for both Hong Kong Airlines and its inflight retail concessionaire, DFASS, with Hong Kong Airlines’ inflight duty free sales up by 78% year-on-year aggressively,” says DFASS.

 

TRBusiness witnessed HKA’s presentation in their bid to win the title of ‘Airline of the Year’ at the recent Inflight Sales Person of the Year (ISPY) event in Brighton.

 

[The presentation was made jointly by Sandra Ng Chaffey, Director Sales & Marketing for DFASS Asia and Mr Pacino Quin Ancillary Revenue Manager for HongKong Airlines; although led by Sandra for most of the presentation]. 

HK AIRLINES RECOGNISED AT ISPY2015

Hong Kong Airlines was the only legacy carrier in Asia amongst the top four finalists for Airline of the Year Award, while its crew member Clover Lui was awarded the Charm Award.

 

According to Chaffey’s presentation made in January, Hong Kong Airlines, set up in 2006, has just 24 aircraft, which are, on average, just 2.6 years old. The self-determined ‘young and fresh airline’ was struggling in 2012 – a fact agreed upon by most in the airline industry – reporting a steep decline of -30% in 2013 vs 2012.

 

According to Sandra Ng Chaffey – whom TRBusiness met at ISPY2015 – the ‘young, energetic and passionate’ sales crew utilised the 27 years of experience brought to the table by DFASS, in 2013, to completely overhaul inflight retail operations.

 

SALES PER PASSENGER +56%

Hong Kong Airlines Mr Sun Jianfeng commented, “We are delighted to be recognised at this industry-wide event. It attests to the service quality of Hong Kong Airlines’ crew member working together as a team, to their dedication, commitment and their knowledge of inflight duty free services. I would like to send a big thank you to the DFASS team for dedication to developing a world class sales culture with us.”

 

Vice President of Hong Kong Airlines, Mr Sun Jianfeng said, “It is our great honour to receive Partnership Performance Award 2014 – Best Improvement of the Year by DFASS. It is a great recognition for both parties’ effort.

 

“We have seen comprehensive improvement over people, inflight hardware and software. Professional training for core sales team (CST) has impressive impact on the inflight duty free sales services. Our cabin crew has gained more skills and confidence in conducting sales. We are also very thankful with the luxurious revamp of SkyShop magazine, introduction of prestigious brands and inflight acceptance of UnionPay. Moving forward, I believe we could achieve even better performance.”

 

During the airline’s presentation at ISPY2015, Chaffey talked about the Core Sales Team (CST), which makes a conscientious effort to hone its retail skills and help others crew members to do the same. This moved from 120 members to 198 in the period April-December last year and saw sales move upwards in line with the number of recruits.

 

DFASS LAUNCHES AIRCOMMERCE

During the anniversary celebrations – which took place at 3pm today at Hong Kong’s Dragon Seal – DFASS announced that Hong Kong Airlines will be the first airline to introduce its AirCommerce concept; DFASS’s in-house ‘proprietary next generation handheld technology’.

 

The technology allows real-time air-to-ground communication using Wi-Fi over existing ARINC ACARS infrastructure. This new service, which is made possible through a strategic agreement between DFASS and Rockwell Collins, enables the airline to conduct live credit card authorisations, eliminating loss due to credit card fraud.

 

“Live credit card authorisation benefits passengers by allowing airlines to remove the current in-flight credit card buying limits, facilitating seat upgrades and high-value purchases,” says DFASS. “In addition, the service opens up future possibilities of accepting other payment modes such as debit card, e-Wallet, as well as live frequent flyer miles accrual and redemption programme.”

 

2015 will also see the introduction of crew engagement and passenger services for Hong Kong Airlines. A group of top sales crew members will be invited to become brand ambassadors for various brands based on their sales performance.

 

CREW AMBASSADOR PROGRAMME

Inflight product samples and in-depth training will be offered to the crew ambassadors and passengers get to enjoy product trial and professional recommendation from the comfort of their seats. Participating brands includes Jill Stuart, Lifetrons, no!no!, Paco Rabanne, Pandora, Prada, SK-II, Talika, Valentino and Veld’s.

 

“Passengers will also enjoy a range of Hong Kong Airlines Exclusive items from Aigner, Ballast, Mont Blanc, Tomassa and Veld’s starting from April 2015,” says DFASS.

 

“I would like to say a sincere appreciation to the management and staff of Hong Kong Airlines, whose trust and support is the key driver behind the excellent sales result,” concluded John Garner, Deputy Chairman of DFASS.

 

“Hong Kong Airlines passengers should expect an exciting 2015, with the introduction of our next generation AirCommerce technology and exciting range of duty free items exclusively selected for the airline. I look forward to another successful year together.”

 

‘70% OF PASSENGERS ARE FROM MAINLAND CHINA’

Back in January, Sandra Ng Chaffey told the audience – and voters – during her presentation that Facebook is the most useful way for management to talk to its crew; especially considering the average age of the crew. Sandra divulged that the HKA SkyShop Facebook page has accumulated 424 members in just 12 months; a large proportion of the entire HKA crew network.

 

It was interesting to hear that 70% of HongKong Airlines’ customer base hails from Mainland China. But Sandra rightly said that the buying behaviour of passengers from first, second and third tier cities differs greatly.

 

In order to aid crew in their selling technique, a Quick Sales Reference guide was produced – informed by historical sales data – which allowed crew to tailor their sales approach, according to more specific passenger profiles.

 

During this presentation the numbers really spoke for themselves; HKA achieved 78% overall inflight sales increment in 2014; 297 crew are currently under the mentoring scheme; 32 cabin crew forums take place a year and HKA has 2,528 likes on its crew Facebook page.

 

At the end of the presentation, the HKA presenters were joined on stage by two emotional crew members who thanked DFASS and their own management for making their jobs easier. When asked by TRBusiness what piece of advice he would give new crew members, Clover Lui – who won the Charm award at ISY2015 – said that a smile was one of the most important tools. “I would try to be a role model [for the crew],” he said before becoming tearful.