Airways. Today, virtually all the airlines in Europe are privatised, with a small share remaining in the hands of the State, if any at all. There are no rules. It all depends on the skill of the managers and whether or not governments agree to stop intervening. Over time, it would seem that politicians have realised that professio- nals are more competent to run this business. Within govern- ments, it is interesting to note that there is often a conflict bet- ween the Minister of Tourism and the Minister of Transport. What does the Minister for Tourism want? To have as many tourists as possible: that means giving up traffic rights, bringing in all kinds of airlines, low-cost airlines, which puts the national airline at risk. From that point onwards, if it is not able to align its costs and be very efficient, it runs the risk of rapidly being undermined. So there is always a conflict between the two. It's quite interes- ting: depending on the victory of one minister or the other, the national airline may or may not survive.
there were still a few gîtes. With Airbnb, we've gone from 20,000 to 100,000 available rooms. Suddenly, the city has opened up exponentially, and the mayonnaise has taken hold. And now we have to manage it!
Class & Relax Lifestyle Magazine: How does the APG network function on a day-to-day basis?
Antoine Huet: As network managers, we have to make sure that our members have the right training, the right tools, everything they need to deliver the service we expect of them. All their busi- nesses, because they are independent, are already well integra- ted, long established in their territory. But it's a network that lives and evolves very quickly. Since we decided to go into cargo in 2017, we have integrated more than 60 cargo members. Our members have either set up their own cargo subsidiary, or we've
Class & Relax Lifestyle Magazine: What is your relationship with low-cost airlines? Is the success of these companies the result of the extreme democratisation of air transport? Antoine Huet: We may occasionally represent them offline, but fundamentally they are not our customers. Their distribution is mainly via the Internet, so they don't need anyone. I think that low-cost airlines are the victory of mass tourism, and the pheno- menon of overtourism stems from this, because airports and regions subsidised them to bring in tourists: we help the low-cost airlines to offer even more attractive fares, and so on. It's like an addiction: once you've started to make a living from too much tourism, everyone depends on it. It's very complicated to stop, it hurts. At first, we didn't see it coming. And now we're realising it: overtourism is a disaster. At one time, one of the constraints was accommodation capacity: when there were 20,000 hotel rooms in a city, there were 20,000 rooms, no more; With the low-cost airlines, we have an example of a very special and very dangerous interweaving of the relationship between politics and economics in the development of air traffic.
taken on new members for the cargo side, or they've set up joint ventures. That was a major revolution. Cargo is a different busi- ness, and it required a huge effort. To expand our network, we continue to bring in new members. There is a hard core at APG, which has been there for a long time, but the work of integrating newcomers is substantial. We realised that they were sometimes a bit lost, so we created what we call a mentoring programme for new members. A former member mentors them and teams are responsible for them, ensuring that they receive the right training: this helps them to successful- ly integrate into the APG family. Every year, we also organise Regional Trainings by zone. In addi- tion to these training sessions, we hold a major annual World Connect meeting, and an annual general meeting for the entire network, which takes place in March-April, in a different country each time. Sandrine de Saint Sauveur, the auditors, Isabelle and Olivia, and our product managers are in contact with people all over the world. As soon as I get the chance, I also go out into the field. We take every opportunity to meet the members of our network. It's essential to establish that special bond, to enrich the human relationship that is APG's real strength. And our customers reco- gnise it !
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