It is clear that disruptive forces are coming 'faster and bigger than you think' to change aviation �" the question is, are the airlines ready for it? 

Peter Harbison, executive chairman of Sydney-based Centre for Aviation (CAPA), opening the Airline Leader Summit in Dublin last week, believes they are not.

As he sees it, two forces are converging to change the industry forever �" one, ownership and control and two, ownership of the traveller as technology opens up the field for third parties to take over the selling of travel.

Underlying those two forces is the rise of China and new markets like Asia, he said �" growing Chinese ownership of airlines as well as the rise of new travellers from a region whose propensity for mobile is higher than in other regions of the world.

CAPA’s Peter Harbison, opening the Airline Summit in Dublin.

He said the industry had gone through three disruptive cycles in the last two decades �" 6th freedom, Gulf carries and low cost airlines. Now it’s time for China, partnerships and big data to change the industry.

Pointing to tech companies such as Uber, Airbnb and Amazon, he said, “All they do is focus on data.”

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