OAG Celebrates 15 Years in China, and Many More to Come

Fifteen years ago, OAG opened its first office in China – and wow, has it been an exciting time. When we entered the region in 2003, China was the fourth largest aviation market in the world. Today, the sector is exploding. Major shifts, like the introduction of WeChat Pay and open trade with the U.S., laid the foundation for even more growth, and now Chinese airline routes are among the busiest in the world, with eight of the top 20 international routes operating to or from China.

The growth is noteworthy, and worth celebrating, because China has long been an important market for OAG and the entire air travel ecosystem. The success we’ve seen in China over the years is a true testament to the partnership with our customers, and our team’s dedication, results, and passion for what they do. 

To commemorate this milestone, we recently hosted a special dinner in Beijing to celebrate with our customers and partners. The event drew over 100 senior executives from across the travel sector – including the largest airlines and airports in the region, market leading OTAs and pioneering travel technology companies -- plus many representatives from government, tourism and the wider travel service community.

While in Beijing, we also launched our first OAG Customer Council, an exclusive global network which delivers practical insight, new opportunities and innovative solutions through a series of collaborative meetings across the OAG global customer base. Participants discuss emerging market trends, address critical industry challenges and deepen relationships with key partners in the space. Beijing was an obvious choice for launching this exciting new initiative, as China is OAG’s fastest growing market, and we have seen rapid adoption of our solutions in the region.

We strongly believe that knowledge-sharing with peers and partners is the best way to celebrate, grow and innovate as an industry, and plan to expand this offering into a regional series for our other customers around the world.

It’s truly an exciting time for OAG, and the China celebration was a great opportunity to both look back on our achievements and look forward to what’s next. The Chinese travel market is growing exponentially each day, and is expected to surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest aviation market by 2022. This means more opportunity for travelers, for OAG, and most importantly, for our customers, who keep the travel industry running. 

As the world takes advantage of the growing Chinese tourism spend, and tech companies in China continue to revolutionize the booking and payments environment with eCommerce and mobile app development, airports, airlines and travel companies will increasingly adapt to meet demand and capture a larger share of the Chinese market. We expect this shift to open new air travel markets and routes, and bring a greater need for capacity, resource and connection planning in the region, all of which are intrinsic to how OAG supports the travel industry with its data solutions. We will continue to grow and invest in our team to support these needs in China and beyond.

China has played a leading role in defining travel over the past decade and a half, and with the innovations revolutionizing the industry today – predictive analytics, biometrics, supersonic air travel, artificial intelligence, and modern payment methods, to name a few – the next fifteen years promise to be even crazier than the first – and that’s a good thing.