Duty Free Air & Ship Supply (DFASS) has praised the efforts of partner carrier Hong Kong Airlines which won the coveted Airline of the Year prize at the recent Inflight Sales Person of the Year event. The 2016 year’s version of the event, consisting of 72 cabin crew, took place at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel, Heathrow airport.
In order to be considered for the Airline of the Year prize, participants had to demonstrate their commitment to creating and developing crew sales culture over the past year. This was achieved by sharing their top three initiatives which delivered the biggest return on investment. Two initiatives had to be crew related alongside one other.
Each airline was given 30 minutes to present at the airline management workshop on January 25 followed by a panel discussion and questions from the audience. Management attending the workshop received one vote per company for the winner.
Jointly presented by Hong Kong Airlines head of ancillary revenue Pacino Qin and DFASS director sales and marketing Sandra Ng Chaffey, the presentation initially focused on the development of the core sales team to strengthen crew sales culture. The team introduced cross-airline competition on the airline’s dedicated Facebook page to enable experience sharing and cultural exchange. A sales achievement dinner and brand specific training were also introduced.
In addition, a brand ambassador programme was born with support of 14 brands including Chloe, Gucci, Jill Stuart, Lifetrons, Marc Jacobs, no!no!, Paco Rabanne , Philip Stein, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, SK-II, Talika, Valentino and Veld’s. The programme allows brands to train their top sellers with specific knowledge and selling skills and on the provision of product samples onboard.
DFASS deputy chairman and president Asia/Pacific John Garner said: “This was a challenging field with many worthwhile competitors. The Hong Kong Airlines crew were recognised for their skills and determination, but the most important part of the award was the way it recognises the partnership between the airline, and DFASS as its concessionaire. They are an amazing business partner.”Despite the deflection of the Chinese yuan at close to 7% in 2015, the Hong Kong Airlines and DFASS team ended the year with a strong 12% surge.
Oscar Cheng and Minerva Tam from Hong Kong Airlines also won silver medal in the Product Merchandising Team Award category.
Hong Kong Airlines director of service delivery Stanley Kan said: “Last time, Hong Kong Airlines was the only legacy carrier in Asia among the top-four finalists for the Airline of the Year Award. This year, we are thrilled to be crowned Airline of the Year.
“Partnering with inflight retail concessionaire DFASS, Hong Kong Airlines has achieved significant improvement in inflight duty-free sales services with the launch of innovative initiatives such as professional training and introduction of the Brand Ambassador scheme.”
