Rebuilding air distribution: Can we make it about the customer again?
Selling an air ticket from Point A to Point B should be as simple as hailing a ride on Grab or Uber, shouldn’t it? After all, it’s been nearly 60 years since the first Global Distribution Systems took flight. Yet, in 2025, the experience is arguably more complicated, fragmented, and confusing th [...]
Who says meta is dead? Batista takes Skyscanner into a packages, multi-modal and beyond-Europe future
Two years into Skyscanner, first as COO, then as CEO, Lisbon-born Bryan Batista is ready to take the 21-year-old metasearch pioneer into a new future in 2026 – one that involves global expansion into new markets such as India and the Middle East, as well as a packages and multi-modal future.
Ca [...]
Charlene Wee: Flying into the future of airline retail
When Charlene Wee took the stage at WiT Singapore, she had just transitioned from heading distribution at Singapore Airlines (SIA) to overseeing operations, a move that bridges two worlds often kept apart: how airlines sell, and how they serve.
After 15 years with SIA, Wee now manages 9,000 [...]
Airline distribution and the role of aggregators in a fragmented future, with AeroHub’s Kelvin Fu | WiT Studio
Airline distribution is at a crossroads. The centralized Global Distribution Systems (GDS) is more fragmented, driven by NDC (New Distribution Capability) and direct distribution. In the WiT Studio, Kelvin Fu (CEO and Founder of AeroHub) weighs in on the direction of the industry. He asserts that di [...]
Whose order? Or, why everyone wants to own your trip (and make you pay for it)
A few weeks ago, as I planned my trip to join WIT’s 20th Anniversary Celebration, my inbox was littered with the usual barrage: multiple confirmation emails for each trip element and no single journey umbrella document. Each came from a different brand, with a different reference number, in a diff [...]
Asia-Pacific airlines achieve 9.8% year-on-year increase in demand
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for August 2025 global passenger demand with the following highlights:
Total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), was up 4.6% compared to August 2024. Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK) [...]
Five years of NDC: A promise under pressure
When the New Distribution Capability (NDC) first emerged on the global travel scene, it was pitched as the next big leap for the airline industry. Developed by IATA and launched to modernise airline distribution, NDC was envisioned as a single, standardised protocol that would allow airlines to ret [...]
flyadeal and HTS launch Cancel for Any Reason and Premium Disruption Assistance in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s fast-growing low-cost carrier brings more flexibility to passengers with HTS’ Cancel for Any Reason and Premium Disruption Assistance
flyadeal, Saudi Arabia's fast-growing low-cost airline and travel technology platform HTS (Hopper Technology Solutions) have announced the laun [...]
Online Travel In Asia: The Untold Story (Full Documentary)
The story of Asia’s online travel industry has never been simple. It has been a tale of scrappy entrepreneurs, ambitious global players, fast-changing technology, and travellers whose habits shifted as quickly as the markets themselves. Online Travel in Asia: The Untold Story is a documentary two [...]
Scoot expands global reach with Dohop-powered booking platform
Scoot, the low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SIA), announced the launch of its virtual interline platform, developed in collaboration with travel solutions technology company Dohop. Dohop’s interline technology enables airlines to form flexible partnerships quickly, complementing traditio [...]
