The theme of our recent Avinode Academy Gothenburg focused on tech in business aviation, and our guest speakers and panelists dug deep into the topic to unlock the secrets of business success throughout the day.

Avinode International Marketplace Managing Director, Oliver King, opened his presentation by citing the Machiavellian quote: “Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.” As we face a rapidly evolving era in technology, Oliver noted it was half a millennium ago that Machiavelli and his peers were faced with their own radical evolution: the birth of the printing press – a shift that would transform the way the world consumed and shared information. Daunting, challenging and a time of immense possibilities – an age similar to our own.

In light of this time of change, we conducted polling through the Academy event, and asked our members what their thoughts are on how technology has changed business aviation. 57% hailed that the impact of technology has been the biggest change in business aviation over the past ten years. This is over and above both: rising competition in a more crowded industry and also increasing client expectations.

Three quarters (75%) of respondents also said that they are always looking to improve their business via new technologies; whilst 18% admitted the fast pace of tech has left them weary and they prefer to let others test new practices before adapting once new tech has been proven to work.

Two thirds (63%) of members felt that the greatest influence tech has had is on how they now sell – whether that is through their website, mobile apps or online brokerages. This was an interesting point as speakers Mike Ryan, Fly Victor, and Pedro Nassif, VistaJet, gave compelling arguments for how their businesses use data and tech to rise up above the competition. 

And so the message throughout the day seemed to echo Machiavelli’s 500 year old truth: embrace the change, evolve or face the threat of being left behind.

What do you think? How has tech affected your business? And what do you foresee as the next big evolution for the charter aviation industry? We’d love to know your thoughts.

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If you have comments or suggestions of topics you would like us to cover in future issues, please let us know: [email protected]