Ep 179: The Shifting Outlook for Airports in South East Asia, with Shantanu Gangakhedkar, Frost & Sullivan

About This Episode

20 Jun 2023 • 32m42s

“Airports are making changes in their operation plans and strategies to adapt and inculcate the learnings of the last two years.”

The airport sector continues to undergo a transformation as traffic flows recover, intelligent technology adoption accelerates and consumer expectations shift. This week, Gary and Hannah welcome KL-based Shantanu Gangakhedkar, Senior Consultant for Aerospace & Defence with Frost & Sullivan.

Shantanu has authored a new White Paper entitled “Future of Airports and Growth Opportunities: Sustainability & Digitization”. In a broad-ranging chat, we discuss the air travel recovery in South East Asia and Asia Pacific in the first half of 2023, and the outlook for the rest of the year. We go behind the scenes at the region’s airports to discuss the developing trends in F&B (including in-airport food deliveries), duty free retail, biometric applications and baggage handling technology.

Shantanu also covers the steps airport operators are taking to achieve net-zero targets. Plus, we assess the outlook for smaller and regional airports in this unfolding new era in travel.

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
27 Apr 2026 • 15m31s

Ep 300: Thailand & Cambodia Pursue Peace, Myanmar Nears ASEAN Return & Embodied AI Tourism in Malaysia: Start the Week in The South East Asia - Part 1

Is a rapprochement between Thailand and Cambodia getting closer? Could Myanmar soon return to ASEAN? And how will embodied AI transform the tourism landscape in South East Asia? Those are three of the top questions Gary and Hannah ask and answer in Part 1 of our two-part Start the Week show. To kickstart the lead-up to the May holiday period, we head to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and China to tackle the talking points that matter.
Play
27 Apr 2026 • 21m07s

Ep 301: Vietnam's Long Thanh Challenges, Thailand's China Tourism Crisis & Fuel Surcharges Go Off-the-Chart in the Philippines: Start the Week with The South East Asia Travel Show - Part 2

How high can airfare surcharges go in the Philippines? Is a 30% drop in Chinese flights to Thailand a short-term adjustment, or a long-term shift? Is Indonesia serious about levying ships in the Malacca Strait? And will oil deals with Russia give it more influence in South East Asia? These are four central questions in Part 2 of our Start the Week show, as Gary and Hanna break down the radiating effects of two months of war in the Middle East for travel and tourism in ASEAN and beyond.