APEX FTE Ancillary & Retailing 2025 conference agenda is currently in development and will be available soon. Please click here to subscribe and stay updated.
Hear from the most inspirational speakers from inside and outside of the industry
The FTE Ancillary & Retailing conference will deliver an unrivalled learning experience, and provide a platform for some of the most progressive new approaches around the world to help inspire radical new business models between stakeholders, and new ways of thinking. We will do all this through our overarching event theme for 2024 of “Customer-Centric Innovation” which will permeate through every aspect of the show.
FTE has done a lot in this space already from leading the BARTA initiative back in 2017, through to our Business Model Transformation Think Tank in 2021, but optimising commercial performance has never been more important and the time is right to bring the world’s airlines, airports, OTAs and their partners together to share best practice, new ideas and knowledge on scaling disruptive new approaches that drive new levels of conversion with passengers through digital means, and innovative new approaches at every step of the passenger journey – Inspiration & Booking, Pre-Travel, Airport, Inflight, Arrival and Post-Travel.
FTE Ancillary & Retailing Conference Agenda 2024
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Tuesday 11th June 2024
FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub (members only)
The members-only FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub Live Day will be hosted as part of our Dublin event. Our Corporate Partners can expect high-level innovation keynotes, interactive panel discussions, co-creation roundtables, and quick-fire pitches from a selection of pioneering startups.
The three core themes of the FTE Hub for 2024 are Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT) and these topics are at the forefront of our FTE Hub meetings over the next 12 months. International Airlines Group, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Manchester Airports Group, Isavia, and London Luton Airport are among the latest Corporate Partners to join.
The FTE Hub is a truly unique community, playing a crucial role in accelerating the speed at which industry stakeholders master utilisation of cutting-edge technologies. Members openly share expertise, experiences and inspiration year-round through curated virtual and live environments globally.
Agenda: Keynote from Bob Kwik, Worldwide Head of Airports and Ground Transportation, Amazon Web Services; followed by insightful presentations from leading airlines, airports and suppliers, including Southwest Airlines, Manchester Airport Group (MAG), Cation Consulting and more; startup pitch sessions from Fairlyne, Ostrum, Tao Climate, Travpal, Frequency, MOST, PRM Assist, CloudCards and Snapfix; plus interactive discussion, and networking.
To learn more or to join the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub, click here >>
Hosted by
FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group meeting (members only)
The FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group (BIWG) brings together the most innovative and progressive baggage supply chain companies, airlines, and airports from across the industry to provide a unique platform for cooperation and industry advancement. It is the platform for developing new techniques, technologies, and business models to deliver tangible change in the baggage sector. There are over 100 BIWG members, with the latest to join including International Airlines Group, Manchester Airports Group, Frankfurt Airport, Isavia, Western Sydney Airport, and Orlando International Airport.
Dublin Airport welcomes members to this face-to-face gathering to learn from one another and collaborate on game-changing Proof of Concepts (POCs) to reduce costs, improve passenger experience, and test innovations.
Agenda: Tour of Dublin Airport’s baggage system; insightful presentations from Dublin Airport, Waites, Schiphol Airport and nlmtd; latest PoC update; and interactive discussion on automation, robotics, passenger information, bag tracking, customer experience, capacity influencers, airport vs airline perspective, new technology.
Please contact us for more information Airlines can join for free
Hosted by our valued partner
FTE World Airport Retailing Working Group (members only)
Future Travel Experience is taking its engagement with airport commercial leaders to the next level through the FTE World Airport Retailing Working Group. This initiative provides a platform – and is building a community – in which the brightest, most progressive minds in the commercial sector globally can network and share ideas, visions and learnings on how the industry can improve its commercial offerings, strategies and collaboration. As part of FTE’s commitment to the widest possible engagement, access to the Working Group is free to all relevant industry stakeholders and membership is growing rapidly, with over 400 executives as active members representing almost 100 airports, 100+ partners and 17 airlines.
This face-to-face meeting, hosted by Stripe, welcomes members to hear from retailing innovators in Dublin and learn more around progressive new business models from their like-minded industry colleagues.
Agenda: Scene-setting from Stripe, Vantage Airport Group and Kinetic Consultancy; keynote from Alex Avery, CEO, PRAGMA; and interactive breakout sessions on Understanding & Planning for the passenger evolutions of tomorrow.
Join the FTE World Airport Retailing Working Group – free to all relevant industry stakeholders >>
Hosted by our valued partner
City of Dublin Walking Tour
FULLY BOOKED
Brought to you by passenger disruption experts Plan3
We here at FTE pride ourselves on providing the very best in networking events; enabling our guests to unwind and connect with like-minded industry peers in a relaxed environment. To support that ambition, we have teamed up with passenger disruption experts Plan3, to invite attendees, to join them on Tuesday 11th June for a City of Dublin Walking Tour.
Offering a local taste of Dublin in this 2-hour guided tour of the historical and cultural sights of this beautiful city, before joining your fellow participants at The FTE Dublin Ice Breaker at The Giddy Dolphin.
By invitation only – Registration coming soon.
The FTE Dublin Ice Breaker at the Giddy Dolphin
In the heart of buzzing Temple Bar, The Giddy Dolphin provides the perfect location for us to kick off the show. Set on the ground floor of the historic Dollard Printing House, the building itself is the oldest steel frame structure in Ireland dating back to 1886. We invite delegates to join us for not only quality food, drink, and an authentic Irish experience but most importantly, the craic! Meet with your fellow FTE attendees, connect with industry colleagues both new and established – and if you’d like to continue your night, there are endless additional watering holes nearby.
Wednesday 12th June 2024
Registration & Exhibition Opening
Show Opening and VIP tour of exclusive unveilings on the floor by exhibitors, plus networking & coffee.
Opening Keynote Session
Daniel Coleman
Founder & CEO
Future Travel Experience
Dr. Joe Leader
CEO
APEX/IFSA
Anko van der Werff
President & CEO
SAS
The FTE Future Differentiation & Business Models Think Tank Live
Joint session with FTE EMEA
Rohit Talwar
CEO
Fast Future
Steven Greenway
CEO
flyadeal
Sammy Patel
Chief Executive Officer, Midway Partnership & Vice President, Commercial
Vantage Airport Group
Guðmundur Daði Rúnarsson
CCO and Airport Development Officer
Keflavik Airport
Martin Jones
CEO
CAVU
Tero Taskila
CEO
BEOND
Future Travel Experience is wholeheartedly committed to driving positive industry change. A vital part of these efforts are our unique Think Tank projects, which bring together senior experts and leaders from across the industry to tackle key topics, co-create forward-thinking visions, and address common challenges. One such challenge that is emerging across the sector is the search for meaningful differentiation that enhances the customer proposition in a profitable manner.
In the search for differentiation, the sector has achieved a certain level of maturity in terms of the physical airport infrastructure, cabin experience, and retail offering. The next stages of differentiation could increasingly come from new approaches that deliver more personalised, unique, and tailored offerings for passengers at every stage of the passenger journey. However, that can only be achieved through bold new operating models and collaborative commercial approaches to developing customer offerings. This in turn demands new thinking and approaches to enable collaboration between different stakeholders across the sector to deliver those offerings which none of them could deliver individually. So what could this range of future customer offerings look like, and what new business models will we need to evolve to facilitate them and ensure profitable returns for all involved?
To help develop and drive new ideas and collaborations, working in partnership with Fast Future, we are launching The Future Differentiation and Business Models Think Tank. To launch the Think Tank, we have pulled together a representative team of industry heavyweights that will uniquely represent stakeholders across the industry. Months in advance of the show, the team will collaborate and engage to create a unique vision and presentation deck that will be shared exclusively at the show in Dublin with the aims of inspiring attendees and setting the tone for everything that follows at the show.
As well as providing an end-to-end vision, this Think Tank will include a series of key industry recommendations, and segments dedicated to:
- What are the new trends in the consumer world, and the pulse of customer expectations in travel for today and tomorrow?
- What are the latest predictions on appetite to travel for leisure and business in the long-term?
- What will the future product offering need to look like on the ground, up in the air, and in the retail offering?
- Addressing the elephant in the room, how can the industry better address the sustainability concerns of passengers?
- What impact can technologies like AI, robotics, IoT and metaverses have on the industry to dramatically improve passenger and employees’ experiences and stakeholder margins?
- How can we better leverage and share data?
- How could the industry better market, engage, and serve different generations of passengers?
- How might business models between stakeholders need to evolve to create a more differentiated customer journey, and what good examples are there in the sector now which can help light a path for the industry to follow?
Coffee and networking
Transformational Airline Retailing Strategies
OPTION 1
Following two scene setting case studies the session will move to panel discussion where all participants will share their views on how industry stakeholders should navigate the tech landscape, and the best strategies for airlines to become fully-fledged retailers.
Eric Leopold
Founder
Threedot
What does it really take to be a digital airline?
Ricard Vilà
Chief Digital Officer
LATAM Airlines
Modern Airline Retailing at Lufthansa Group: Insights and Outlook
Keith Martin
Senior Strategy Manager
Lufthansa Group
Ridha Al Lawati
Acting Vice President – Digital
Oman Air
( speaker Invited)Ursula Silling
CEO
Branchspace – digital reinvented
Wong Mei Hong
Head, Ancillary Revenue
AirAsia
Special Airport Keynote
OPTION 2
Schiphol have chartered a bold new course for the future of their commercial strategies, but what exactly does that look like and what were the motivating factors to setting this new course?
Arthur Reijnhart
Executive Director Schiphol Commercial
Royal Schiphol Group
Optimising commercial performance on airports in a fast-changing world
OPTION 2
The moderator will set the scene and then a panel discussion will begin after each speaker will talk for 5 minutes on how they are evolving their approaches to increase revenues amidst a backdrop of less space per passenger, increased passenger numbers and expectations, inflation pressure, more leisure and reduced business traffic, more demand for quality F&B at the airport and onboard, and a limited ability to attract staff to the desired levels.
David Griffiths
Founder & CEO
The Travel Retail Consultancy
Gerald Ong
Strategy and Commercial Development
Hamad International Airport
Andrew Harrison
Managing Director UK Travel
WHSmith
Luis Marin
President & CEO Europe, Middle East and Africa
Avolta
Arthur Reijnhart
Executive Director Schiphol Commercial
Royal Schiphol Group
- What are the right mixes, and formats, for travel retail in 2024 – how do store, digital and hybrid approaches now fare against one another?
- How big an impact will tech like AI, robotics, metaverse, XR/AR, digital screens etc reimagine commercial efforts on the airport?
- How does product offering need to evolve to drive sales – are offers with a greater emphasis on prestige and sustainability likely to drive sales?
- With business traffic looking unlikely to get back to where it was how does the industry optimise its efforts to better serve this demographic?
- With more leisure traffic, who don’t have lounge access included in their ticket, what opportunities do they present which could be better utilised?
- How do you effectively help customers create or find an offer unique to them?
- With available space at a premium how do you spread passengers across the terminal footprint to reduce queues, and enhance customer experiences?
- How do you create compelling retail offers in satellites and gates?
- What is the latest thinking on the business case for digital marketplaces by travel industry stakeholders?
Lunch and networking in the exhibition hall
Sponsored by
The AI Travel Retailing Symposium
OPTION 1
How can we leverage AI for dynamic offers, disruption management, customer engagement, trip planning and much more.
Following scene setting case studies each speaker will talk from their seat on how they are evolving their approaches to driving revenue creation & CX enhancement through AI. After everyone has voiced their opinion, the panel will share their ideas for use cases and learnings from their efforts so far.
Glenn Morgan
Partner
Threedot
Qatar Airways recently launched the world’s first promptless AI booking experience & digital human cabin crew. What has it learned from these efforts and where will it go next with AI?
Christophe Guittard
Senior Vice President for Digital
Qatar Airways
Swapnal Chouhan
Head of Competence (Airport Management & Commercial)
Munich Airport
Niels Colemont
Head of New Optimization Programs
FLYR
Abe Dev
Vice President - Digital Technology and Innovation
Riyadh Air
Bryan Porter
Chief Revenue Officer
Datalex
Interactive Workshop - Building Innovation Culture: Unlocking faster digital change in airports
Stripe’s modern payment infrastructure powers global leaders from airports, travel, and beyond. They will be sharing learnings around how their customers balance complex operations, and the need to keep making improvements to technology and the traveller experience.
James Lemon
Global Lead – Travel, Transport & Leisure
Stripe
Jamie Heaslip
Irish Strategic Growth Lead
Stripe & International Rugby Legend
Gail Taylor
Chief Commercial officer (Non Aero)
Edinburgh Airport
Coffee and networking in the exhibition hall
Closing Leaders Keynote Session
Fast moving & entertaining panel discussion on customer-centric innovation & business transformation.
Jamie Heaslip
Irish Strategic Growth Lead
Stripe & International Rugby Legend
Annalisa Gigante
Board Member of Hangar 51 & Head of Innovation
International Airlines Group (IAG)
Adrian Dunne
COO
Aer Lingus
Sean Donohue
CEO
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
Pierre-Hugues Schmit
Chief Commercial and Operational Officer
VINCI Airports
Networking Reception & FTE/APEX Awards Ceremony
Make the most of the vital networking opportunities provided at the FTE Dublin Networking Reception, where delegates can enjoy demonstrations in the exhibition and network with their peers over drinks before our Awards ceremony.
It has been a time of real transformation across the sector and we want to honour and recognise those efforts in Dublin. 15 airlines and 15 airports will be shortlisted for FTE World Ancillary & Retailing Awards 2024, with three in each category being honoured for outstanding achievement at the ceremony.
Following that the APEX Passenger Choice Award Winners ceremony will take place recognising airlines from Europe, South America & North America for their outstanding CX efforts as voted for across 1.2 million flights through TripIt.
Sponsored by
Summer in Dublin Travel Massive Meet Up
The Travel Massive Dublin Chapter invites FTE delegates to attend a meet up in the iconic watering hole, Café En Seine. The “Summer in Dublin” informal social event is the perfect opportunity to continue your conference networking and connect with the local travel community. The not-for-profit Travel Massive Dublin has been hosting free-to-attend social events, insightful interviews, educational panels, and generally supporting the travel industry in Ireland since October 2013.
Hosted By
Thursday 13th June 2024
Registration & Exhibition Opening
Opening Keynote
How will disruption of the air transport industry in Saudi Arabia reset passenger expectations, and industry approaches, in the years to come?
Innovative Case studies to drive ancillary success
OPTION 1
Ross Falconer
Head of Content
Future Travel Experience
Maximizing profitability through personalized experiences: How SunExpress is becoming the ultimate travel companion for diverse passenger preferences
Charlotte Posada Kandel
Manager Ancillary Products
SunExpress
The Connected Traveller – How an eSIM can enhance CX, grow brand loyalty and increase in-destination ancillary revenue
Bill McKimm
VP of Travel Sales
eSIM Go
Timothy Haupt
Manager, Ancillary Strategy & Commercial Development
Lufthansa Group
How Flair increases user satisfaction on direct channels and generates more ancillary profit with HTS Fintech
Juliana Ramirez
VP Ancillary Revenue & Digital Experience
Flair Airlines
Ella Alkalay Schreiber
GM of Fintech
Hopper Technology Solutions
Unleashing Innovative Airport Strategies for customer and commercial Excellence
OPTION 2
Enhancing the customer experience and commercial retail income is and will remain a cornerstone of the airport industry. This enhancement will transcend existing norms and practices. Delve into the wisdom of industry innovators, absorbing their insights to supercharge your commercial ventures and redefine the landscape of customer experience in the realm of aviation.
Martijn Steur
Managing Director
Kinetic Consultancy
How will the new airport for Riyadh rewrite the rules for airport commercial excellence?
Mammen Tharakan
Vice President, Investment & Partnerships
King Salman International Airport
Navigating New Horizons: Unlocking Innovation and Collaboration in the Ever-Changing Airport and Travel Industry Landscape
Joel Godfrey
Digital Product Director
CAVU
How is Istanbul Airport taking its digital transformation and customer experience efforts to the next level through Channel management, Innovation, accessibility, Omnichannel strategy, AI, Chat GPT and chat bots, personalization, segmentation, research, insights and more?
Ahmet Er
Digital Transformation and Channel Management Deputy Manager
İGA İstanbul Airport
Dilanur Çetinalp
Digital Transformation and Channel Management Supervisor
İGA İstanbul Airport
The FTE APEX Commercialising Inflight Symposium – The Workshop
OPTION 3
Jump seat debates enable an entire group to participate in a lively conversation and debate, without the use of any AV or slides.
A single chair is placed at the front of the space. This is the jump seat. The remaining chairs are arranged in a semi-circle facing the jump seat. A group of relevant participants are selected to fill the seats around the jump seat in advance of the session beginning. The moderators introduce the topic and at any time any member of the audience can, occupy the jump seat and voice their opinions. The discussion continues with participants frequently entering and leaving the jump seat. When time runs out, the jump seat is closed, and the moderators summarize the discussion.
Dr. Joe Leader
CEO
APEX/IFSA
Jonas von Kruechten
Head of Strategy and Business Development
AERQ & APEX Board Member
Coffee and networking in the exhibition hall
Special Segment
Flying ahead: How United is revolutionising air travel through technology
Melanie Harris
Managing Director - Digital Technology
United Airlines
The FTE EMEA/Ancillary & Retailing Digital Identity Symposium
OPTION 1
Following a pioneering case study the panel will share a range of dynamic approaches and learnings on how they are advancing digital identity to deliver next-level customer experiences, efficiencies, loyalty, revenue & payment opportunities, and ideas on how the industry can achieve the vast potential that new digital identity approaches can deliver to the sector if we can join the dots between all the players involved.
Andrew Price
Managing Director
Opermium
British Airways and Branchspace have been collaborating to successfully test the first fully integrated digital identity travel experience, from shopping for flights to arrival, on a journey from London Heathrow (LHR) to Rome Fiumicino (FCO), so what can we learn from these efforts and how do we now globally scale such efforts?
Harvey Tate
Human API – Digital Transformation
International Airlines Group (IAG)
Ursula Silling
CEO
Branchspace – digital reinvented
Bill Carleton
Director, Advanced Recognition Systems
NEC Corporation of America
Vanesa Calvo
Head of Funding and Innovation Trends department
Aena
Lunch break on the exhibition floor
Sponsored by
Special Keynote – How will Ryanair evolve its approaches leveraging technology as it grows to carry 300 million passengers a year by 2034?
Neal McMahon
Chief Operations Officer
Ryanair
How do we better optimise and evolve commercial offerings and remove friction for passengers and stakeholders?
Panel Discussion
- What are the ways the industry could collaborate more effectively to better serve the customer, and create revenue opportunities along the way?
- How do we better manage disruptions beyond flights like digital channels of payments systems being down?
- How do we optimise delivering the right personalised offer at the right time?
- Are digital marketplaces something that air transport stakeholders should really be pursuing?
- What are the ways we can advance F&B offerings at the airport and onboard, and deliver joined-up thinking for passengers?
- Are there new advancements that can drive advertising revenues forward?
- What are the latest ideas to advance revenue creation inflight?
- What potential do new consumer trends towards mobility and electrification hold for aviation?
- Is there scope to innovate with traditional ancillaries like insurance, baggage, lounges, seat selection etc?
Eric Leopold
Founder
Threedot
Jennifer Koontz
Vice President, Airport Properties & Relations
Enterprise Mobility
Carlos Ruiz
Director of Commercial Management
Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky International Airport
Caroline Bergstroem
Head of Ancillary Products, Connectivity and Retail
SAS
Nick Ashton
Global Airline Lead
Protect Group
Adrian Keating
Independent Aviation Consultant
Coffee break in the expo hall
The FTE APEX Lounge Innovation Summit
OPTION 2
Dr. Joe Leader
CEO
APEX/IFSA
Following a scene setting case study our industry experts will share their views on the evolution of future lounge experiences, and the best operational & commercial approaches behind them.
The latest thinking on the way to develop, and run lounges, across the IAG group.
Martin Thomas
(Acting) Head of Above Wing Automation
IAG Airports
Gerald Ong
Strategy and Commercial Development
Hamad International Airport
Alex McEvoy
Product Manager, Airports and Lounges
Aer Lingus
Rebecca Thorp
Partnership Director – Strategic Projects and Business Development EMEA
Collinson Group
FTE Innovate Awards Ceremony & Farewell Drink
We culminate two days of learning, networking, and inspiration, by inviting all attendees to relax and enjoy a ‘farewell’ drink while taking in one final fantastic keynote. During those two days audience members will have heard from industry stakeholders, each pitching on stage in an effort to impress our judges and their fellow aviation colleagues. Join us as we see the region’s largest and most respected innovation competition come to a close, where those all-important audience votes will be tallied, and we will announce and celebrate our FTE Innovate Awards winners.
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