Dr. Jelle Zijlstra was the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, President of the Central Bank of the Netherlands, and President of the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland, with a long-standing engagement with the Swiss Chamber of Commerce in The Netherlands. In honour of this renowned economist, we recognize international leaders whose work champions economic national growth, generational-shifting innovation, global collaboration, or charitable commitments which dramatically improve the quality of life for society.
Opportunities for leaders in the aviation industry
Travel fell sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. Airline revenues dropped by 60 per cent in 2020, and air travel and tourism are not expected to return to 2019 levels before 2024 (1) While this downturn is worrisome, it is likely to be temporary. A recent survey by McKinsey of more than 5,500 air travellers around the world shows that the aviation industry faces an even bigger challenge: sustainability. According to McKinsey, most travellers want to become carbon-neutral in the future. More than 30 per cent of the travellers pay extra to offset their CO2 emissions from air travel. Leaders in the aviation industry have the opportunity to implement strategies that meet this new demand.
Challenges
In 2021, the return on invested capital earned from airlines still exceeded the average cost of capital. However, the buffer is extremely thin. Moreover, the job of spreading financial resilience throughout the industry is only half complete with a major gap in profitability between the performance of airlines in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific and the performance of those in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. The great achievement of the industry—creating value for investors with normal levels of profitability—is at risk. Airlines will still create value for investors with above cost-of-capital returns, but only just. The challenge of becoming carbon-neutral puts even more pressure on profit margins. On top of that, due to the high competition in the aviation industry, cost reduction comes into prominence and becomes more critical each day.
Solutions
The global aircraft aftermarket parts market size was USD 29.5 billion in 2020. The market is projected to grow from USD 32 billion in 2022 to USD 47.33 billion in 2028 at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% during the 2021-2028 period. The rise in CAGR is attributable to this market’s demand and growth, returning to pre-pandemic levels. This particular segment of the industry offers an opportunity to increase overall profit margins in order to make investments in sustainability possible. Avatrade Marketplace Inc. has developed the world’s online transparent marketplace to buy and sell commercial aircraft parts, and has provided a solution to increase profit margins within the aviation industry dramatically.
Social responsibility and innovative thinking have proven to be important drivers for the economic development of The Netherlands. Avatrade Marketplace was formed for the primary purpose to be a game-changer in the opaque industry of aviation. The company offers transparent pricing, and leverages robotic process automation to provide superior customer support, analytics & insight. This innovative approach is a key consideration for the Swiss Chamber of Commerce in The Netherlands to issue this year’s Dr. Jelle Zijlstra Award in the fields of Sustainability and Aviation to Avatrade Marketplace Inc.
(1) Back to the future? Airline sector poised for change post-COVID-19,” McKinsey, April 2, 2021; “What will it take to go from ‘travel shock’ to surge?” McKinsey, November 23, 2021.