Jetrader - Summer 2017 - 32

Forward Facing:

ISTAT Asia

With growth in Asia remaining a closely watched
topic, members and industry leaders gathered to
once again discuss the region's place in aviation.

S

Surpassing expectations with yet another
year of record-breaking conference attendance, nearly 800 attendees from around
the globe made the trip to Hong Kong on
9-11 May for the seventh annual ISTAT Asia
conference. The event has quickly become
a can't-miss event on member calendars,
as attendees once again found themselves
elbow to elbow with industry leaders from
major airlines, leasing companies, manufacturers and appraisers.
As the conference continues to grow in
size, the constants from previous events
were still present: outstanding sessions and
speakers, continued educational development
and countless networking opportunities.
The event featured numerous panel
discussions featuring airline executives
from a wide range of companies, including
representatives from CEBU Pacific, Hong
Kong Express, Indigo, Korean Air, Nok Air,
SpiceJet, Thai Airways and United Airlines.
The Grand Hyatt Hong Kong played host
to the event, which officially kicked off
with a poolside welcome reception on
9 May, although an Appraisers 101 session
and the ISTAT NewGen Event were held
earlier that same day.
The event shifted into gear on 10 May
as attendees were greeted with opening remarks from the Chief Executive of
the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region, the Honourable C Y Leung. The
Chief Executive outlined measures that the
region was implementing to attract more
global aircraft leasing activity. He cited
pending legislation that would provide
incentives to lessors, pointing out Hong
Kong's status as "China's international
finance center."
Next up, the perennially entertaining
Adam Pilarski, Ph.D., senior vice president,

AVITAS, Inc., provided a healthy dose of
levity along with cutting insight in his
presentation, "Using Economics to Predict
Aviation Developments in Uncertain Times."
In his talk, Pilarski cautioned that rising
labor costs could reduce overall airline profitability, despite relatively stable oil prices
and continued short-term industry growth.
Shortly afterward, the Airline Panel convened. Moderated by Foster S. Arata, vice
president & senior managing director, Asia,
Boeing Capital, the panel covered a broad
range of topics, including a discussion on
how airlines could best allocate funds given
their profitability.
The remainder of the day was rounded
out by a series of equally engaging panels, which included speakers from Boeing
Capital, Citigroup Global Markets, Embraer
Commercial Aviation, Mitsubishi Aircraft
Corporation and a host of others.
The day concluded with the ISTAT Women's
Networking Reception, plus a trip to the
Happy Valley Race Course for a networking
event - complete with live horse racing -
and wrapped up with the ever-popular Club
ISTAT After Party, where members were able
to decompress and unwind after a full day.
Events started bright and early the following morning, as 11 May featured more
panels, networking sessions, and a presentation, "Building a Faster Future," by
Blake Scholl, chief executive officer and
founder, Boom Supersonic. Scholl highlighted numerous technological advances
that Boom is leveraging in its aggressive
vision to create a fleet of supersonic planes
that would offer greatly compressed travel
times coupled with an economic model that
has long-term viability.
Next up, Peter Huijbers, chief executive officer, CALS, moderated the Low-Cost

32 The official publication of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading

Airline Panel, where the group described
their individual approaches to positioning themselves against the legacy carriers, as well as other low-cost carriers, in
the region.
And once again, attendees were
treated  to one of the most anticipated
events of the conference: the "Airbus and
Boeing Debate." Moderated by Bertrand
Grabowski, senior strategic advisor, Dubai
Aerospace Enterprise; Randy Tinseth, vice
president of marketing, Boeing Commercial
Airplanes; and Mark Pearman-Wright, head
of leasing & investor marketing, Airbus;
offered an engrossing look at the two
companies' approaches and visions for the
future of aerospace.
Shortly after lunch, Dick Forsberg,
head of strategy, Avolon, hosted a session expanding on his "Land of Silk and
Money" white papers, which was followed
by a series of panels on mid-life aircraft
and a conversation with lessor CEOs.
After a networking break, attendees reconvened for a session new to
ISTAT Asia: the Best Location for Lessors
Panel. Moderated by Wui Jin Woon, head
of aviation, Asia Pacific, Natixis, panelists
discussed the emergence of leasing options
in the region and focused on the unique
challenges and opportunities presented by
the tax structure in Asia.
With yet another highly successful conference in the books - thanks to the attendees, sponsors and exhibitors - ISTAT Asia
looks to continue its growth as the event
heads to Singapore 8-10 May of next year.
As always, presentations and photos from are available via the ISTAT
mobile app and the ISTAT website. Don't
forget  to  make plans to attend next
year's event.
Jetrader - Summer 2017

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