Talking Tech & Travel with Christian Langer, CDO Lufthansa Group
As part of the Skift Forum Europe, taking place in Berlin on April 26, we interviewed Christian Langer, CDO Lufthansa Group. We discussed the latest trends in the European and American Travel & Mobility Tech scene and Christian gave us a sneak peek of his Skift talk today.
Travel & Mobility Tech Radar: Christian, the Skift Forum Europe has focused on examining Europe as a bellwether for many of the leading trends in global travel. Where do you see the continent in front and where is it rather lagging behind?
Christian Langer: Let’s take a look at airlines: European players are still at the forefront of traditional disciplines such as revenue management and network planning. Herein lies the danger, however. There is a tendency to rest on decades of expertise and to miss out on the technological reorganization of these clusters, for example through price-prediction solutions such as “Hopper” or “Flyr.”
I very much look forward to the development of VTOLs (vertical take-off and landing vehicles) in the next few years. With “Lilium” and “Volocopter,” the two most prominent examples so far come from Germany for a change. I hope these startups will know how to build on their early lead.
Apart from this, in the mobility context, we now have substantial expertise in Europe in platform business models. This has produced at least two unicorns: “BlaBlaCar” and “Flixbus.” I sincerely hope that development in this context will greatly accelerate — even with the help of established companies such as the Lufthansa Group.
Finally, we have strict data protection guidelines in Europe, which the Lufthansa Group unequivocally supports. The same confidence our customers extend to us every day when boarding one of our aircraft can rightly be expected in the handling of their personal information. Only then can digital services be developed that are accepted and used.
Travel & Mobility Tech Radar: Besides yourself, several other big names in the industry are speaking today. Which speakers or startups are you looking forward to in particular?
Christian Langer: Generally, I’m looking forward to the Skift Forum because — more than just about any other conference — there is a large number of interesting people, not only on stage, but also among the attendees. To mention a current example: The Accor hotel chain has consistently pursued a digitization strategy for years. I’m therefore quite interested to hear CEO Sébastien Bazin. Otherwise, I always look forward to GetYourGuide, one of the few travel tech companies from Germany of global relevance.
Travel & Mobility Tech Radar: Today, you’re talking about “The New Airline Distribution Landscape” — can you sum up your main points for us?
Christian Langer: They are rather conjectures, since airline distribution overall will change much more in the next few years than it has over the last few decades. Even the term “airline distribution” will disappear, because it is conceived of in terms of the providers, not the customer. Distribution planning will become much shorter term, more flexible, and more personalized. The convergence of payment, identity, and loyalty is also a development we are following closely. Lufthansa Group is well positioned with Miles & More, Airplus, and our stake in Verimi.
The trend is already fairly evident: Eurowings is currently transforming into a digital company with affiliated flight operations, in other words into a horizontal platform. This will result in a digital interface to the customer covering the entire customer journey — from the trip’s first inspiration to its completion.
Travel & Mobility Tech Radar: What are the biggest differences between the European travel and tech scene and the ecosystem in America?
Christian Langer: Before thinking about industry-specific issues, we need to tackle cross-industry, structural challenges such as the availability of venture capital for young companies. This is where Europe, and in particular Germany, has recently made significant strides. The status quo, however, is still not comparable to the willingness of US venture capitalists to invest.
The considerable fragmentation of the European market is another undeniable challenge: Despite the “meta-layer” of the European Union, comparatively small markets have to be developed here on their own, both in cultural and regulatory terms. The US market is of course much more homogeneous. Above and beyond this, startups there have an internal market of global importance. You can already scale a great deal before having to think about rollouts into other markets.
Travel & Mobility Tech Radar: What topics will define the year 2018 in the travel and mobility segment?
Christian Langer: From an airline’s point of view, “virtual interlining” — that is, the combination of airlines without a conventional interlining agreement will finally achieve strategic relevance. Initial players like easyJet are integrating corresponding solutions into their online offers. In the medium term, virtual interlining can account for up to 10% of annual global air traffic.
I also hope that this year there will be the first really practical application examples for blockchain in the travel context. Startups like “Winding Tree” are communicating entirely valid visions — now it’s time to put them into practice. We’re actively supporting this.
Finally, the platform idea already mentioned will further penetrate the mobility and travel sector. Due to the high degree of technological fragmentation in this sector, there is, in my view, no better breeding ground for ventures of this kind.
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