It has become a very competItIve landscape but we love that

Simon Yaffe, Director of Client Services at Buzz, looks forward optimistically and sees luxury and sustainability as key in inflight products everyone is back in the game and we’re getting great engagement from all of our airline customers, both old and new. It's an exciting time.

There’s a big call out for more luxury in particular.

We see a lot airlines talking about partnering with large, ultra-luxury European brands to bring brands that people have in their homes into the inflight experience or within the journey via the lounge experience.

Armani has partnered with Etihad Airways, for example. That’s the first truly global European luxury brand that has partnered with a mainstream, high-end airline for an inflight product programme. You can see it in their Business Class serviceware and textiles. It's a true luxury innovation.

Airlines are coming to us saying: "We need to contribute more to the customer experience." That plays right into our wheelhouse of innovation so we really welcome these kinds of conversations.

Sustainability As Standard

We spend a lot of time talking to our customers about their sustainability goals. There are a lot of key callouts from airlines about working to carbonneutral positions or reducing carbon emissions, and many of those come with specific timelines which adds some urgency and drive.

At Buzz, we now take sustainability, as standard. We all know we have got to reduce single-use plastics and use sustainable materials, wherever the budget allows for it.

What we talk about more within our team is: ‘design for keeps’. If someone takes a product off a flight, keeps and reuses it, that's sustainable.

If it's a rotable product, the product has to deliver improved rotations for the airline. It has become a very competitive landscape, but we love that because it means we have to stay one step ahead and keep innovating. We’re in a good place.

Ideation at Wtce

We’re expecting a big turnout of airline customers at WTCE and the return of many suppliers. I think we’re going to see more people spending more time with their trusted suppliers. The days of trying to get to everybody in 30- or 45-minute meetings are over.

We offer the dynamic opportunity to create true 360 solutions, thinking about the customer journey across all product categories and touchpoints – from pre-check-in to post-flight – so we're looking forward to customers spending two or three sessions with us, so they can walk our stand, talk to us and then get started on genuine ideation. buzzproducts.com •