LONDON – Munich Airport International (MAI) officially inaugurated its regional office in Singapore on December 8th.
MAI is the international business arm of Munich Airport, in Munich Germany, and the move signals the airport group’s strong optimism in the Asian aviation climate and the region’s growth trajectory.
Growth in the Asia Pacific region
The Asia Pacific region has always been touted by many as the region to look at, in terms of potential growth and the existing amount of traffic, with India, China and Indonesia leading the way.
It is no secret that MAI has been eyeing the Asia Pacific for a while, and places a great significance on this region. In fact, two major South East Asian airlines fly to Munich, and that is Thai Airways from Bangkok and Singapore Airlines from Changi Airport.
In fact, Munich Airport’s involvement in the Asian region has always been significant, and interactions between MAI and the region date back to the mid-1990s.
The first international project was the management of the then-newly Kuala Lumpur International Airport. After that prestigious project, many followed, including in India, Singapore, Japan and Nepal.
A permanent presence?
The newly established office in Singapore is yet an important milestone for the Bavarian airport company.
This is significant as MAI can have a better understanding of the complex economic and cultural structures of the Asian continent, which will give a better understanding for a European company to gain and foster meaningful relationships.
These important ‘pre-requests’ would catapult MAI, to get a foothold on the Asian market. With the market opening up post-Covid, MAI is poised to capitalise on the market’s growth. Passenger growth is expected to grow even further.
The new regional head of the Singapore office, Simon Lotter, is a native of Australia and joined Munich Airport as a consultant back in 2011 as part of the ORAT project in Doha Qatar.
He was later promoted in 2014 when he was responsible for the Asian Region, as Regional Sales Director based at the company’s headquarters in Munich. Mr Lotter spent a couple of years in Asia, working in Hong Kong and Singapore before joining Munich Airport.
Lorenzo di Loreto, Managing Director MAI said: “Our Singapore office is the next milestone in MAI’s strategic growth in the region and clear proof of our strong and ongoing commitment to our partners, customers and projects in APAC.”
“This office will receive full support from the MAI headquarters and will embody our strengths and 5-star airport operations expertise at its best.”
Simon Lotter also stated that: “I am looking forward to being closer to my customers and projects.” He added with optimism about the opening of the Singaporean office:
“With our new office in Singapore we are not only present but also ready to build a platform on our combined international and regional experience for further growth in areas of management, consulting, training and, equally relevant, innovation such as advanced air mobility, sustainability, capacity utilisation and passenger experience.”
