World Aviation Festival 2026: Day 3 highlights

Investors in Lisbon say AI now dominates aviation start-up funding, while EL AL, Ryanair and airport leaders discuss loyalty and who owns the passenger

The third and final day of the World Aviation Festival 2026 opened today in Lisbon with investors from Sky VC and Amadeus Ventures discussing where airlines and investors are putting their money, from artificial intelligence (AI) to airline operations and clean technology.  Later sessions covered EL AL’s move into hotel bookings and how airports and airlines can share passenger data.  The festival has brought together more than 4,500 attendees and 600 speakers over three days at the Feira Internacional de Lisboa (FIL), from 13th-15th October.

Airlines and start-up investment – AI overtakes sustainability

In a fireside chat, Amy Burr of Sky VC said only 7% of IATA member airlines have invested in start-ups, making start-up investing a blind spot for most of the industry.  She shared figures showing that KLM has made 44 start-up investments, United Airlines 25 and Qantas 18.  Burr said investment decisions start with the problem an airline wants to solve, followed by the search for the right technology or company and a well-developed proof of concept, and that incremental innovation works better than replacing existing systems.

Burr said sustainability remains an investment priority, but its dominance is declining as AI takes the lead.  She described AI agents that book travel without people being involved as overhyped for now, saying these systems are still basic and need a lot of training to get right.  She added that founders selling to airlines often do not understand how airlines work.

Where the money is going

In the investor panel that followed, Burr said Sky VC has invested in 17 AI start-ups and 10 clean technology start-ups over the past decade, and that many promising start-ups are working on the operational side of airlines.  Suzanna Chiu, head of Amadeus Ventures, said investment in AI is not only going to booking but also to operations projects.  She added that ancillaries and upselling remain top of mind for airlines, that AI adoption in call centres is now one of the main innovation topics, and that many projects are using AI to improve predictability and communication with travellers affected by disruption.

Chiu said Amadeus measures its investments both financially and strategically, including whether they accelerate the growth of the company.  Burr agreed that investments have to make money, but that strategic value for investors is also key.

EL AL goes beyond the flight

Ofir Goldman, director of global marketing and digital at EL AL, and Benny Yonovich, co-founder and CEO of Arbitrip, explained how the airline is moving from selling tickets to offering customers hotels and attractions.  EL AL has launched EL AL Travel, a hotel booking platform integrated into its existing digital channels, where members of its frequent flyer programme, which has 3 million members, can earn and redeem points.  In its first month, the platform generated more than 35,000 hotel nights, and members redeemed more than 130 million points on hotel stays.  The speakers said the move is part of EL AL’s strategy to become a more customer-centric airline that offers more than flights.

Who owns the passenger?

In a panel moderated by Maurice Jenkins, chief innovation officer at Miami International Airport, airline and airport leaders debated who owns passenger data and how it should be shared.  Tom Kelly, director of ground operations at Ryanair, said 240 million passengers have moved to fully digital boarding, that customers at airports belong to the airlines, and that the rest of the industry will follow Ryanair’s digital approach.  He said airports should focus on getting the basics right with proven technology, such as Wi-Fi, rather than AI.

Iyad Hindiyeh, CDO at GMR Group’s GAL, said the customer journey should be defined as starting from the passenger’s home, and that sharing passenger information across every touchpoint creates value and better service.  Mihai Tica, CIO of Düsseldorf Airport, said the airport is transforming how it uses data to improve operations, including planning for when and how passengers arrive.  Arturs Saveljves, board member at Riga International Airport, said data quality matters more than quantity, and that customers will share more data if they see the benefit.

Iberia puts the customer first

In a Day 2 session, Beatriz Guillén, chief customer officer at Iberia, said one of the biggest challenges is understanding what lies beneath customer sentiment, which requires measuring the experience at different moments of the journey.  She said customers’ perception of Iberia’s Tokyo flights improved when the schedule changed from a day flight to a night flight, and that it helps to separate net promoter scores (NPS) between customers who had an issue and those who did not.

Guillén said deploying Starlink connectivity on all Iberia flights will be a game changer, as crew will receive information in real time and can solve customer issues immediately.  She added that crew who are enabled to act are less frustrated, and passengers are more satisfied.

Loyalty beyond the flight

In a Day 2 panel on loyalty, Philip Dugaw, director of partner strategy at American Airlines, said airlines need to be part of their customers’ everyday lives.  AAdvantage members can earn and redeem miles through everyday activities with partners, and many have renewed their status this way, while customers who engage with partners tend to fly American Airlines more.  Kai Paroma, loyalty partnership manager at Finnair, said the airline manages 100 partners beyond flying, and that members can pay with Avios on board for catering and even at a ski resort.  Peter Smith, senior vice president of travel at Cover Genius, said loyalty matters most when things go wrong, and that 73% of travellers said they would switch loyalty programmes if their status was protected.

Industry announcements

Flight Assistant, built by Free Flight Technology, announced a partnership with VITURE to develop hands-free airport navigation for augmented reality (AR) smart glasses, showing turn-by-turn directions and live flight information in the traveller’s field of view.  altovo presented three products that help airlines sell and service travel under their own brand, including a booking channel that lets authorised AI assistants access live airline fares and availability and create a booking hold.

Air Canada wins best airline app and InterLnkd wins best ancillary service

InterLnkd won the Ancillary Arena, a new pitch competition at this year’s festival in which five innovators presented ideas for new airline revenue streams to a panel of five senior airline commercial leaders. InterLnkd will receive a complimentary exhibition stand at World Aviation Festival 2027.

Air Canada won this year’s Battle of the Airline Apps, in which Air Canada, Virgin Australia and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) presented their mobile app strategies to a panel of industry experts.

For details on this year’s speaker line-up, visit: https://www.terrapinn.com/conference/aviation-festival/speakers.stm