The future of Middle East Super-Airlines: Emirates and Etihad to merge, and Qatar to join an alliance
There has been a lot of educated commentary about Emirates’ latest A380 order taking the fleet size for that specific aircraft to a total of 90. Though that’s impressive, it’s worth thinking about how dramatically it would change Emirates’ competitors’ business plans. While we can expect the likes of Air Canada and Lufthansa to seek …. continue reading →
Three keys to making loyalty programs work for the airline brand of the future
In the last two months, I traveled on a dozen different airlines, in three continents. Each with a different loyalty program. And each just a difficult to understand for the so-called “elite” traveler. It seemed that while trying to please an ever-increasing variety of travelers, airlines were creating a veil of confusion before the traveler …. continue reading →
Five lessons from the most innovative loyalty programs in the world – Inspired from Loyalty 2010
Last week, I spent three days in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, hanging out with Loyalty marketing professionals from around the world at the Loyalty 2010 conference. I met a number of very talented and interesting people, from airlines, hotels and even retails chain that are trying to drive loyalty. Also part of the event was the …. continue reading →
Etihad Airways charging a second bag fee? Bad idea for a brand trying to establish itself
As promised at the start of the year, SimpliFlying will be bringing you more Guest Columns from leading aviation practitioners around the world. Our second guest article of the year is written by Oussama Salah, who is an aviation expert based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Being a Jordanian who flies around the region a lot …. continue reading →
Etihad Airways video trip report – Business Class: Athens to Delhi, via Abu Dhabi
As promised at the start of the year, SimpliFlying will be bringing you a new section with video trip reports – mostly shot at 35,000 feet. Because the best assessment of an airline brand can only be done during the Brand eXecution! Here’s the first of such reports. In this 3 min video trip report, …. continue reading →
What does 2010 have in store for Middle East airline brands like Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and others?
As promised at the start of the year, SimpliFlying will be bringing you more Guest Columns from leading aviation practitioners around the world. Our first guest article of the year is written by Oussama Salah, who is an aviation expert based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Being a Jordanian who flies around the region a lot …. continue reading →
Will the Dubai crises lead to a mega Emirates + Etihad airline brand?
Image via Wikipedia Every single time I’ve been to Dubai, I’ve heard that Emirates is bankrupt and the state of Abu Dhabi has bought the airline. But I always dismissed them as baseless rumors. Then, the Dubai World crises happened around Thanksgiving/Eid. And that made me think again. That the Abu Dhabi government could ask …. continue reading →
How airlines in the Middle East are enhancing brand value through their frequent flyer programs
The InsideFlyer magazine published an article entitled “The FFPs of the Middle East” last September. Though on the face of it, the article compares the various FFPs among the leading airlines there, upon closer look, you also discover the nuances that enhance brand value for the customers of these airlines. As proven by the large …. continue reading →





"[Working with SimpliFlying] has expanded our minds, opened our eyes and showed us what to do in concrete, practical, and tangible terms. We see the benefits not only to ourselves but to our members as well." -
"SimpliFlying has a great balance - providing strategic insights and directions while maintaining a down-to-earth attitude in guiding LAN in strategy implementation. Justifying our investment to senior management was not difficult." -
"The SimpliFlying MasterClass was a combination of trends and insights from the industry, as well as tailor-made topics designed to help Lufthansa progress to the next level of customer engagement. By having every management level participate, Lufthansa achieved great results in regards to 'social status' and loyalty, which was one of the key topics." -
"At Estonian Air, we always look for partners who can bring innovation and good ideas, with the ability to execute. With Simpliflying, we get exactly that." - 

