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Lennart

25 posts

Where are airlines placing their innovation bets?

✈️ In 2025, airline startup investments dropped to 31 deals from 39 in 2024, marking a five-year low. Only seven airlines invested, with United Airlines leading with 10 deals. Asian airlines, particularly in Japan, China, and Korea, doubled their investment share to 30%. Cleantech/sustainability was the top focus, comprising 42% of investments, while AI accounted for about 25%. Airlines favored later-stage, de-risked startups, with 65% of investments in mature companies.
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  • 6 min

What really defined the travel industry in 2025? – TNMT

🗺️ In 2025, TNMT surveyed travel trends, revealing AI dominated 35% of media articles, followed by Transformative Travel's wellness focus. Google tested autonomous booking, while Booking.com and Expedia expanded AI use. Viral Travel saw TikTok and Booking.com partnerships boost bookings, marking a 62% rise in Jet2's loyalty. Restricted Travel was impacted by geopolitical tensions, as cities like Barcelona implemented overtourism measures. Despite AI's initial lead, experts favored Transformational Travel, highlighting travel's human-centric nature.
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  • 10 min

Smart glasses: the tech trend hiding in plain sight

📱 In 2025, AI dominated, but smart glasses gained traction. Notable moves: Apple Vision Pro's 2024 launch flopped, priced at $3,500. Meta's Ray-Ban glasses launched in September 2025 for under $800 with XR displays. Google demoed AI-powered glasses, while Amazon's delivery glasses targeted logistics. Samsung released new XR hardware. Patent activity in VR/AR remains high. The travel sector sees smart glasses enhancing accessibility, breaking language barriers, and revolutionizing navigation, offering a seamless travel experience.
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  • 6 min

Airline Paradox: Why being on-time doesn’t mean being great – TNMT

🛩 In 2024, 22% of all U.S. flights were delayed, sparking an analysis by TNMT on traveler satisfaction versus on-time performance (OTP). Using 15,000 Tripadvisor reviews for top U.S. and European airlines, TNMT found no clear link between high OTP and traveler happiness. Notably, "Pleasers" like Southwest Airlines, with 78% OTP, still scored high in comfort and crew friendliness. In the U.S., legacy carriers showed a correlation between OTP and satisfaction, but in Europe, more punctuality often led to lower satisfaction.
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  • 10 min

How AI is reshaping every step of the traveler journey – TNMT

🛫 In 2025, up to 90% of companies use AI, with 62% still in experimental stages, marking mass adoption. In travel, 40% of travelers use AI for planning. Mindtrip, a notable AI trip planner, has $20M in funding and 1M monthly visits. Airports like Changi and Frankfurt use AI for biometric checks and security, enhancing passenger flow. Sherpa, an AI tool for travel documentation, is used by airlines like Air Canada and Lufthansa, easing pre-trip processes for travelers.
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  • 6 min

Airline Paradox: Why being on-time doesn’t mean being great

🛩 In 2024, 22% of U.S. flights were delayed, highlighting on-time performance (OTP) as a critical industry metric. However, TNMT's analysis of over 15,000 Tripadvisor reviews from the top five U.S. and European airlines reveals no direct correlation between OTP and traveler satisfaction. Notably, Southwest Airlines achieved high satisfaction with a 78% OTP, emphasizing comfort and crew friendliness as key factors. In contrast, within U.S. legacy carriers, punctuality aligns with satisfaction, with Delta leading. European airlines show a negative correlation, suggesting operational focus may reduce passenger experience quality.
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  • 10 min

A framework to separate hype from real Innovation in aviation – TNMT

🌍 In a world of rapidly evolving Travel and Mobility Tech, Lufthansa Innovation Hub developed a framework to differentiate between industry trends that are overhyped and those that are underrated with strong potential for high ROI. They measure mainstream hype using Google Search results (TALK) and track the number of patents and academic papers published annually (ACTION) as indicators of scientific and technical advancements. Space travel and electric aircraft were identified as underrated trends. Despite high media attention, space travel's technological progress has outpaced media buzz, while electric aircraft have been maturing with less hype. On the other hand, airships, SAF, supersonic aircraft, and hydrogen aircraft were recognized as overhyped, with media attention surpassing actual technological progress. The TNMT Tech Hype Balance framework aims to help businesses and investors focus on innovations with genuine long-term impact.
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  • 15 min

Why airlines should study the cruise industry’s comeback – TNMT

🚢 Cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Carnival, after COVID-19's severe impact, reached pre-pandemic passenger volumes in 2022. They reported record financial quarters in 2023 and 2024 with high load factors and surging demand. The U.S. cruise market saw 16.9 million passengers in 2023, a 19% increase over 2019. Cruise vacations often started at $186 per passenger per day in 2023, at least 25-30% cheaper than land-based vacations. The demographic shifted with about 42% of cruise passengers under 40 in 2024. Customer satisfaction in the cruise sector exceeded pre-pandemic levels by summer 2021. Patent filings by cruise lines increased post-2020, with many focusing on enhancing the passenger experience. Wearables like Princess Cruises' OceanMedallion and Royal Caribbean's Tracelet became key for contact tracing and improving customer experience.
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