The 2025 Onboard Hospitality Forum-Asia took place in Singapore on November 11 and 12. The event was co-located with the APEX FTE Asia Expo in the Sands Expo and Convention Centre at Marina Bay.
At the APEX FTE Asia Expo Networking Ice Breaker, held at Changi Airport’s Hub and Spoke lounge on the eve of the co-located trade show, Dr Joe Leader, Group CEO of APEX, IFSA and FTE, said: “I’m really looking forward to seeing the end-to-end passenger experience that we deliver so very well here with Onboard Hospitality, with the presence we have from all of our APEX members, and the presence that we have from all of our digital innovators across Future Travel Experience.
“The fact that we have every single aspect of customer experience makes it the right catchment for the CEOs that are attending, for the chief customer experience officers, or all these individuals that have a blur of responsibilities across this universe. It’s the perfect two-day gathering.”
Panel sessions
Panel sessions and discussions were part of the conferences held across the two days. Those on the Expo Stage were free to attend and included two sessions moderated by Onboard Hospitality’s Technology and Retail Editor.
Edwin Lim, Head of Commercial and Retail – Catering Division at dnata, and the dietician Dr Melissa Adamski, discussed how focusing on passenger comfort and wellbeing is shaping inflight service and food and beverage offerings during flights.
The benefits of industry collaborations were discussed by Aigerim Zhambyl, Senior Manager Inflight Product at Air Astana; Nick Wiley, Managing Director at En Route; and Matt Crane, Founder of the Aviation Sustainability Forum.
Show feedback
“We enjoyed meeting people from different aspects of the airline industry. I had some significant meetings that I was planning for, and hoping for, with some airline customers from the catering teams – which was valuable for us,” said Nick Collins, Managing Director at Ivan’s Pies.
Nicky Slater, Business Development Manager – Airlines at ITW Envopak, commented: “Another great show. Always good to come to the other side of the world and meet some airlines that we currently don’t currently serve. Excellent networking opportunities, great events in the evening, and met some key airlines that we wanted to meet…Definitely be back next year.”
End of an era
Onboard Hospitality magazine has confirmed that it will no longer be the organiser of Forum-Asia at APEX FTE Asia Expo in Singapore from 2026.
APEX FTE Expo Asia will combine APEX Global EXPO, which was previously held in Long Beach, California, with FTE’s long-established regional APAC event and will take place at Sands Exhibition and Convention Centre at Marina Bay in Singapore on November 18-19.
Video of the show floors
Photos from Forum-Asia
