Istanbul Commerce University Sütlüce Campus hosted another one of Turkey’s most important student organizations. The Civil Aviation Society, with the support of the Aviation Management Department academicians, held the fourth of the Civil Aviation Summit, which has become a tradition, with the participation of the representatives of the important players of the sector.

At the summit, which is held every year in line with the civil aviation day, by discussing the current issues of the aviation industry, the leading institutions and senior executives of the aviation industry came together to share current issues and global perspectives in the field of aviation with students and academics. At the summit, where digital transformation came to the fore in terms of the aviation industry, the emphasis on how airlines, airports and ground operators use technology and how this digital change should be managed were among the leading topics of the summit. Rector of Istanbul Commerce University Prof.Yücel Oğurlu shared the importance of the summit and the value they attach to the projects within the aviation department in the future as a university with academicians and guests.

Making the opening speech of the summit, Vice Rector Prof. Necip Şimşek, on the other hand, emphasized the importance of the studies carried out within the university in terms of the aviation sector, in which Turkey has made an important breakthrough as Istanbul Commerce University, and said, “The value that aviation adds to the country’s economy is extremely critical for the national economy.”

ECO-FRIENDLY AIRCRAFT

Nedime Konuksever, General Manager of Air Canada Eastern Europe Turkey, emphasized the importance of the use of technology for the aviation industry in her presentation, where she shared the important parameters of the aviation industry on a global scale. Konuksever emphasized in numbers that Air Canada, which flies to 220 destinations with 51 million passengers, prefers environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient aircraft in its new purchases, and explained the importance they attach to technological infrastructure investments.

INNOVATION IS IMPORTANT

Singapore Airlines Head of Marketing Derya Pekruh emphasized that Singapore Airlines, which blends the cultural values ​​and hospitality of the Far East with its service and quality, carries out many social responsibility projects. Pekruh also underlined the value that innovation-based understanding and social responsibility projects create for the sector in terms of communication with stakeholders at the point where aviation has reached.

AIRPORT MANAGEMENT IS DEVELOPING WITH TECHNOLOGY

Oktay Sözen, İSG Terminal Duty Manager, talked about the change Turkey has undergone in the aviation sector, and revealed how the technological infrastructure in terms of airport management is constantly developing with this change.

İGA Terminal Operations Manager Murat Support talked about moving to Istanbul Airport and the technological developments activated, and explained the importance of new personnel candidates who are trained in a profile that catches up with this development and has a command of technology.

DIGITALIZATION DOES NOT CAUSE LOSS OF JOBS

Pegasus Airlines Business Development Manager Emre Devrim touched upon the importance of analyzing data for aviation. Explaining the critical aspects of these analyzes in terms of the development of systems and business processes over time, Devrim said, “Business development processes and change create job loss anxiety for employees in the first place. However, with the developing business volume, change is inevitable in terms of business formations. Business processes developed with digitalization greatly affect productivity.”

PROBLEMS ARE OVERCOME THANKS TO DIGITALIZATION

Lufthansa Turkey and Iraq General Manager Kemal Geçer also explained the development of the aviation industry in the last 30 years, emphasizing that the number of passengers carried in the world increased from 2 billion to 4 billion in this time period. Stating that low-cost carriers also played an important role in this increase, Geçer said, “There are currently 5000 airline companies in the world. 900 of them are active. Airlines that are not financially well-managed can go bankrupt very easily,” he said.

Pointing out that certain scale airline companies have merged with consolidation in recent years and that this process has been completed to a large extent in the USA, Kemal Geçer said, “This process will be completed in Europe in the coming years. Digital transformation is great importance for the consolidation process. A 50 percent reduction has been achieved in all airline operating systems, at the airport and in all problems experienced in terms of passengers,” he said.