Chile has been in the news for the past couple of weeks, due to the earthquake. And then due to the resilient efforts of the Chileans in bringing the country back to its feet quickly. And the aviation community, lead by IATA is also doing its part by going ahead with FIDAE – the Chilean Airshow – and the Wings of Change conference, despite the damage incurred during the earthquake. One of the aims is to get visitors back to Chile as soon as possible. And yours truly is going to be there too.

I’ve been invited to deliver a workshop and speak on how airline brands can drive engagement, loyalty and revenues from the latest Web 2.0 technologies. In conjunction with that, IATA has kindly agreed to give away two free passes to FIDAE (the airshow) and Wings of Change (the conference) to SimpliFlying readers (yes, you!).

Read on to learn how you can be part of this celebration of resilience in Chile too, and rub shoulders with the likes of Patrick Murphy, former Chairman of Ryanair and the CEO of LAN Airlines.
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Mishandled baggage: mission accomplished?
25 Feb’10 || MSNBC
… In 2009, there were fewer passengers, fewer flights and, therefore, fewer checked bags to be mishandled. All those new checked-bag fees, according to SimpliFlying’s Shashank Nigam, caused “many passengers to stop checking-in [any] bags unless absolutely necessary … and frequent fliers to travel light,” unless they can take advantage of elevated mileage status and check their bags for free. “That’s the secret behind the numbers,” he said… read more

Marketing special report: Social media
19 Feb’10 || Airline Business

… A return on investment is only one way to gauge the success of a campaign, and “it needs to be complemented with a return on engagement, also known as love or buzz”, says Shashank Nigam, chief executive of global airline marketing and branding consultancy Simpliflying… read more

Poor Results Aside, Qantas Remains an Agile Brand
18 Feb’10 || CNBC
Qantas unveiled on Thursday a first-half net profit that slumped 72% from the previous year, triggering an 8 percent slide in its stock price. In comments to the media, Chief Executive Alan Joyce defended the results, saying the carrier has done better than most of its rivals… read more…

AIRSHOW-Quiet Singapore Airshow ends with fewer deals 5 Feb’10 || Reuters || Aviation India || Indian Business News Update … “It was disappointing, no commercial (aircraft) deals, everything was on MROs (maintenance, repair and overhaul). People even thought last year’s Dubai Airshow was disappointing,” said aviation analyst Shashank Nigam, who writes a blog on the industry… read more   S’pore Airshow 2010 sees US$10b in deals, down 23% from 2008 show 5 Feb’10 || Channel News Asia … Shashank Nigam, CEO, SimpliFlying, said: “I don’t think we should read too much into the numbers because if you drill it down, there were no new aircraft orders. Most of the deals are coming from MRO maintenance, aerospace and the biggest order was from the Indian military, for missiles… read more   Webbies 2009 – winners and judges comments 5 Feb’10 || FlightGlobal … The judges said that SimpliFlying had lots of good content. “It has a good, clear focus and the author writes with authority and verve.”… read more   S’pore Airshow garners US$10b in deals as trade show ends 5 Feb’10 || Channel News Asia … Shashank Nigam, CEO, SimpliFlying, said: …

This is an awesome week for SimpliFlying: The Airshow social media campaign has been going very well and I’ve been featured on CNBC, Channel NewsAsia and a host of other media outlets, as far as Latvia! Amidst all the airshow excitement, SimpliFlying was announced as the world’s second best aviation blog by Reed Business Information’s head of Blogging, Adam Tinworth and Vice President Cabin Design Office at Airbus, Jonathan Norris in The Webbies 2009 – Flightglobal Aviation Web Awards. We’re really excited about this and it’s a great recognition of our continued efforts to bring back the romance to flying. Visitor hits have gone up 85% over the last week, since the award was announced, and airshow efforts started. Of course, this wouldn’t have been possible without probably the best social media team in the world (see pic below) – all in Singapore. And those not in the picture below include Rachel Levy (Boston), Sridhar (Chennai), Raghav and Pradeep (Singapore). Of course, our Board of Advisors are always there when we need them – …

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It’s official. We are proud to bring you the world’s first tweetup on an aircraft thanks to the kind folks at Bombardier. And not just any aircraft. It’s the Bombardier Q400, painted in airBaltic colours, we are talking about! Not only that, we are throwing in free beer and munchies generously sponsored by the Bombardier team. Can it get any better? Probably not. Even though this tweetup is by invitation only, if you are heading down to the Airshow this Friday from 3.30 – 5.00pm (which means you have an Airshow trade pass), be sure to pop by the tweetup venue. For those who don’t have a trade pass, fret not. There are up to five places up for grabs. Here’s how you can win a place in this exclusive event. Just 3 steps: 1. Create a video or picture to express your desire to join this tweetup, on why YOU must be there 2. Upload it to YouTube or Flickr 3. Send @SimpliFlying a tweet and tag it with #SIN10 to notify us that your video or picture is up The top 5 most viewed video or image would be …

The Singapore Airshow might not be the biggest in the world (it’s the 3rd biggest). But you bet that it will receive the biggest ever social media coverage, because we have decided to cover it. Yes, Singapore Airshow is finally on Social Media – in a joint effort by SimpliFlying and Penn Olson. There’s a new Airshow  microsite here with multiple updates each day, and a lot of Twitter-buzz as well. For the unaware, the airshow takes place from Feb 2-7 in Singapore. And here’s what you can expect.Sneak previewsFly-pastPlane previewsExclusive plane tours Candid interviews of trade show attendeesBehind the scenes of CNBC set in the Airshow (not yet confirmed, but we’ll try our best!)And much, much more… What we aim to do is to let you know the latest happenings and how to participate in this once-a-year event on social media! Join in the fun with us and you might just see your pictures and videos featured here. This space is about you and your experience at the Singapore Airshow 2010. Stay tuned on how you can participate and win prizes like …

Webbies 09 – The Shortlist25 Jan’10 || Flightglobal… Best Blog: Judged by Reed Business Information’s head of Blogging, Adam Tinworth and Vice President Cabin Design Office at Airbus, Jonathan Norris. Nominees are: Things In The Sky, Airboy, AirPigz, GreenAir Online, Randy’s Blog, SimpliFlying… read more Social Trippin’22 Jan’10 || Slideshare by Turkish Airlines… The author of SimpliFlying.com, a well respected  and unique airline marketing and branding blog that is well-respected by those in the airline industry and those interested in marketing to travelers. On Twitter, he is one of the Top 5 most “followed” as well as one of the Top 5 most “influential” on airlines. Most recently, Shashank became the youngest awardee of the Global Brand Leadership Award, for his groundbreaking work in airline branding… read more CNBC Live Interview: The End of Japan Airlines?19 Jan’10 || CNBCJapan Airlines, Asia’s biggest carrier in terms of revenue, filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday. Shashank Nigam, founder & CEO of SimpliFlying, has analysis of the company and its outlook… read more Gulf Carriers Pursue India’s Market9 Jan’10 || Aerospace Diary… One analyst monitoring this trend is Shashank Nigam, CEO of Singapore-based SimpliFlying, an airline branding consultancy. He notes that Emirates now leads in number of passengers to the …

Is A Low Cost Airline Alliance Possible In Europe? 8 Jan’09 || AirObserver’s Blog … I’d like to quote Simpliflying, whose insight is particularly pertinent especially when we’ve witness such an alliance and with whom I agree. He says that “the most significant difference is the departure from Star Alliance – type marketing or revenue driven alliances. Air Asia and Jetstar have formed a cost alliance… read more   Jetstar and AirAsia join forces 7 Jan’10 || The Straits Times/ Asia News Network … Code-sharing, where a flight operated by one airline is offered as a service by other airlines, could be a prime candidate for cooperation, said Mr Shashank Nigam, chief executive officer of SimpliFlying, an airline branding consultancy headquartered in Singapore… read more   CNBC Live Interview: Analyzing Jetstar-AirAsia Alliance 6 Jan’10 || CNBC The most distinct part about the alliance between Jetstar and AirAsia is that it is cost-driven, notes Shashank Nigam, CEO at SimpliFlying. He analyzes how this deal will benefit both low-cost carriers, with CNBC’s Martin Soong & Sri Jegarajah… Read more   …

Let me say this again. I think Air Asia is one of the most innovative airlines in the world today – right up there with JetBlue, Virgin, Singapore Airlines, Southwest Airlines and LAN Airlines. And today they pulled out a trump card – a joint venture with Australia’s Jetstar Airways. You can keep reading the press releases, but here’s the essence of the agreement and how it will benefit the airlines and their customers (you and I!) What the AirAsia and Jetstar “budget alliance” means The most significant difference is the departure from Star Alliance – type marketing or revenue driven alliances. Air Asia and Jetstar have formed a cost alliance, or what I’d call a “budget alliance” (pun intended). Here is the nitty gritty. The airlines will pursue joint procurement of aircraft – This means that they will be able to leverage economies of scale while buying from Airbus. Joint design specifications – since they’re going to order a lot of planes, they can demand from Airbus things like a twin-aisle A320 or more efficient …