Innovaciones

✈ Finnish airports in the east have reintroduced radio navigation due to serious failures in satellite navigation systems, attributed to presumed Russian interference. Finavia, the Finnish aviation authority, has reverted to ground-based distance measuring equipment at Joensuu and Savonlinna airports and plans to do the same in Lappeenranta. GPS disruptions, detected daily, especially near the Russian border, caused several aborted landing maneuvers between June and August. Finland previously halted flights to Estonia until alternative measures were adopted.

🚀 Alessandro Cianciamino, vicepresidente de distribución de aerolíneas en Sabre, en World Travel Market 2024, discutió el uso de la Inteligencia Artificial (IA) en la industria de la aviación. Señaló que las aerolíneas de bajo coste podrían beneficiarse particularmente de la IA para mejorar la personalización y la eficiencia frente a una competencia creciente. Un estudio de McKinsey indicó que ofrecer ofertas personalizadas puede aumentar la satisfacción del cliente y la conversión de ventas hasta un 20% y entre un 10 y un 15%, respectivamente. Las aerolíneas que han empleado soluciones de IA han visto, en promedio, un aumento del 3% en ingresos, lo cual es significativo considerando los delgados márgenes del sector. En 2023, la industria aérea alcanzó la rentabilidad de niveles pre-COVID, con aerolíneas de bajo coste creciendo más rápido que las tradicionales.

🏖 On November 21, a tourism event organized by Hosteltur, supported by the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council and Turismo LPA, will gather 15 experts to discuss AI in city management and its role in controlling tourist flows. Participants include W2M, GetYourGuide, Civitatis, Riu Hotels & Resorts, Sercotel Hotel Group, among others. The event will feature presentations on AI's impact on urban tourism, success cases like CityMe AI, and how AI is implemented in destination experience companies and hotel chains.

✈️ Isla Air, an airline, plans to fly between Mallorca, Ibiza, and Formentera, targeting routes with commercial potential, especially Mallorca-Formentera and Ibiza-Formentera. Flights will be slightly longer than conventional aviation but with shorter waits, using 19-passenger DHC6-Twin Otter planes. The company will start with inter-island flights and later expand to the Peninsula. No ticket prices or official start dates have been announced yet.

✈ The Airbus A321XLR, designed for long-haul flights, completed its inaugural flight with passengers on Wednesday, November 6, departing from Madrid and landing at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport after 1 hour and 51 minutes. Iberia, which launched the aircraft, will use it initially on Madrid to Paris and London routes. The aircraft, first of eight purchased by Iberia, has a 182-passenger capacity and offers a 30% fuel savings compared to previous models. It can cover up to 8,700 kilometers, with Boston and Washington being its first long-haul destinations.

🏨 ILUNION Hotels and Les Roches Global Hospitality released the I Barómetro de Innovación del Sector Hotelero, revealing only 25% of hotel companies offer specific training in innovation and nearly 60% lack a dedicated budget. The study, based on responses from executives of over 40 international chains and independent hotels, explores innovation maturity across seven key variables. Medium-sized hotel chains (50-200 properties) lead in innovation budgeting compared to smaller and larger chains. However, only 10% have dedicated innovation directors, and 29% cite a lack of incentives and leadership as innovation barriers. Collaboration with startups and other industries is underutilized, with only 48% leveraging external expertise. The report recommends prioritizing creativity and problem-solving training to foster a continuous improvement culture. This barometer aims to be a strategic tool for identifying improvement areas and will be updated annually to benchmark innovation maturity.

📍 Iberia launched an action plan to ease travel from Madrid to Valencia due to DANA impacts, adding two extra flights alongside regular Air Nostrum operations. This will last at least until November 10. The group also capped tourist class prices at €99 per flight.

🌎 Deep Blue Aerospace from China sold two space travel tickets for $140,000 each (1 million yuan) on Taobao. It's a promotional price, 35% lower than future pricing, aiming to stimulate interest and advertise. The country's maiden space journey is set for no earlier than 2028. Competitors charge more: Iwaya Giken at $180,000, Richard Branson at $450,000, and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin at $200,000. The trip offers a 12-minute flight with 5 minutes of zero gravity at around 100 kilometers altitude.

🎃 Weeks before Halloween, hotel guests devoured a dinner service, including cocktails, pumpkin cakes, and bat pie. The headwaiter, burdened with manually closing cash and extracting individual invoices daily, developed calluses on his fingers. One night, overwhelmed by the outdated system, the register began printing non-stop, trapping him in a cascade of receipts, whispering the "curse of eternal invoices." Morning revealed him as a mummy clutching a piece of advice: switch to Noray POS.

✈️ Iberia received the world's first A321XLR from Airbus, as part of an eight-unit purchase. Marco Sansavini, CEO of Iberia, highlights the aircraft's capabilities for new destinations and transoceanic routes. The A321XLR features a two-class, 182-passenger configuration and Airspace cabin for long-haul comfort, offering 60% more cabin luggage space. With a range of up to 4,700 nautical miles (8,700 km), the A321XLR promises a 30% reduction in fuel consumption per seat compared to previous generations and has accumulated over 500 orders.