Ep 63: The Challenges of Reconnecting the World, with Dirk Singer, SimpliFlying

About This Episode

1 Apr 2021 • 35m00s

This week’s episode takes on the complex task of reconnecting global air travel with Dirk Singer, Research Director of SimpliFlying, an aviation marketing and solutions firm founded by Canada-based Singaporean Shashank Nigam.

From his London base, Dirk discusses the white-hot aviation, airline, airport, travel and tourism issues that are confounding policymakers in Europe, North, Central and South America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Will vaccines eliminate the need for quarantines - and, if so, when? Can Green Zone travel actually work? How will vaccine passports be issued and accepted worldwide? What is a Vaccine Hierarchy and why does it matter? What are the specific challenges for intercontinental air hubs like Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai? Will European borders reopen this summer? What is the 50:50 Trigger? And, will the lessons of COVID-19 enable airlines to future-proof themselves against ‘the next pandemic’?

Fascinating stuff.

Resources

SimpliFlying: https://simpliflying.com/

SimpliFlying’s COVID-19 Resource Hub: https://simpliflying.com/guidance-airlines-covid-19/

View All Episodes

Latest Episodes Catch up with the pods you may have missed

Play
22 Aug 2025 • 26m46s

Ep 266: More Indonesian Airports, Thai Crypto Tourists & Vietnam's Proposed Superapp: This Week in Review

Indonesia plans to expand its total of international airports by Presidential decree. Thailand fires the regional starting gun for crypto payments in tourism (when will other countries join the race?). Vietnam launches its own ‘Superapp’ to be rolled out over the next two years. It’s been a week of mega-announcements in South East Asia as concerns grow about slowing travel and tourism momentum and looming geo-economic disruptions. Join Gary and Hannah as they travel through ASEAN to discuss the top travel talking points of the past seven days.
Play
14 Aug 2025 • 33m26s

Ep 265: Rethinking Indonesia's Under-achieving Inbound Tourism Sector, with Nur Wulan T

“Indonesia has the potential to lead in eco-tourism, in cultural heritage and in Muslim-friendly tourism… but it tries to promote everything all at once, which dilutes the message.” Beautiful, vast and complex, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago nation, and home to the planet’s fourth-largest population. But tourism is heavily concentrated in Bali, which recorded 45% of inbound arrivals to Indonesia in 2024. Meanwhile, Indonesia lags behind Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam for visitor arrivals, attracting 13.