Volcanic ash aviation crisis to be addressed by EUROCONTROL and KPMG in online panel discussion

Whilst flights may no longer be grounded, the European ash crisis continues to impact airlines, passengers and cargo around the world. UBM will be holding an interactive, online discussion at 15:00 BST this Friday, 23 April, to address the situation, examine what happened, and identify what needs to be done next.

A panel of key stakeholders from the aviation sector will discuss the crisis from an insider’s perspective. The virtual event format will also allow the aviation community to pose their questions to the experts directly.

The speaker line-up includes Bo Redeborn, director of cooperative network design at EUROCONTROL, David Stewart, partner at AeroStrategy, and Justin Zatouroff, head of transport restructuring at KPMG.

Dr Ashley Steel, Global Chair for Transport and Infrastructure at KPMG, comments on the impact of the recent flight disruptions on the aviation industry:

“The high fixed cost nature of the airline industry means that significant decreases in revenue, as experienced by carriers in the last week, have an immediate impact on financial viability, especially cash flow. Carriers should recast their cash flow forecasting and contingency planning. Discussions with key suppliers and financial stakeholders will also be important.”

“This event is another reason why national airlines should be allowed to merge cross border. A truly global airline with a global footprint would be better positioned to absorb the revenue impact of a regional nature, because the revenue impact is spread across a wider cost base.”

The one-hour event is free to attend and is accessible online. Participants will hear a number of speakers present their views which will then be discussed, during which time participants will be able to submit questions.

Viewers are invited to register at the following address: www.ubmaviationnews.com/ashcrisiswebinar.html