Budget airline boss eyes non-gaming tourists
Forget the free drinks, peanuts and meal service, Con Korfiatis is in love with budget airlines.
After setting up budget carrier Jetstar in Singapore in 2004, he succeeded Andrew Pyne last month as chief executive of Viva Macau, the new kid on the block in the gambling enclave's fledgling aviation industry.
Mr Korfiatis, 42, says both he and his new airline are hungry to recruit more staff and buy new aircraft as it tries to wrest market share from long-time monopoly Air Macau. His long-term goal is to put Macau on the map and make people aware that Macau is now more than a gaming city.
In the meantime, he has to break through regulatory barriers in the city, which until December had been solely served by Air Macau. Viva is still trying to get approval to fly to the mainland, expected to be one of the carrier's major routes in the future.
Mr Korfiatis started his airline career at Ansett Airlines, Australia's second-largest airline before its collapse in September 2001. He then joined Qantas Airlines and was appointed chief executive officer of the Australian flag carrier's low-cost carrier Jetstar.
Mr Korfiatis was born in Sydney to parents who emigrated from Greece. He is married with one child and is interested in movies, music, cars and golf.