Inflight retail association touted

Print Article E-Mail Article

A working party has been set up to examine the creation of an inflight retail association.

The initiative was sparked at the recent airline conference in Geneva, Switzerland organised by Lemantrade and Duty Free Business.

The working committee is being chaired by DFASS purchasing and vendor relations director John Garner. He is joined by Tourvest managing director Maurice Hartshorne; United Airlines manager onboard merchandise sales Annette Gutsmiedl and Northwest Airlines manager inflight sales programmes Svein Husevold. "We'd also like to co-opt another couple of airlines," Garner told TRW.

The association would look at key challenges, difficulties and opportunities facing airlines and concessionaires in an effort to grow the business, he said.

Comment: Any effort to encourage partnership and industry dialogue in the inflight sector should be loudly applauded - especially given the tragic recent events in the US. The inflight world faces unprecedented pressures over the next 12 months and only by a cohesive and united approach that preaches partnership first, parochialism last, will the sector stand any chance of recovery.