Asian Aviation: A Conversation With Matt Driskill
Update: 2025-09-29
Description
Where are travelers heading amid the post-pandemic shake-up of aviation trends?
Matt Driskill is the editor of Asian Aviation and has worked as an Asia-based journalist and content producer since 1990, for outlets including Reuters and the International Herald Tribune/New York Times.
From his studio in Phnom Penh, Driskill spoke with The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt about the challenging state of the aviation industry, the successes and difficulties, and where travelers are heading next amid an ongoing rebuild in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vietnam has emerged as the top destination for travelers, Chinese tourists are slowly returning to Cambodia despite a border conflict with Thailand, but Bali is not measuring up.
Technology is also making life easier with less time spent at check-in and in passport queues, and perhaps more importantly it’s also saving the airlines money. However, the robotic world is not for everyone, as the less-tech-savvy are finding out.
Driskill has received awards from the Associated Press for Investigative Reporting and Business Writing and in 1989 was named the John J. McCloy Fellow by the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in New York where he earned his Master's Degree. He is a former president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong. Driskill appears on international broadcast outlets like Al Jazeera, CNA and the BBC and has taught journalism at Hong Kong University and American University of Paris.
In 2022 he was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Aerospace Media Awards Asia organization for his editorials and in 2024 he received a Special Recognition for Editorial Perspectives award from the same organization.
Matt Driskill is the editor of Asian Aviation and has worked as an Asia-based journalist and content producer since 1990, for outlets including Reuters and the International Herald Tribune/New York Times.
From his studio in Phnom Penh, Driskill spoke with The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt about the challenging state of the aviation industry, the successes and difficulties, and where travelers are heading next amid an ongoing rebuild in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vietnam has emerged as the top destination for travelers, Chinese tourists are slowly returning to Cambodia despite a border conflict with Thailand, but Bali is not measuring up.
Technology is also making life easier with less time spent at check-in and in passport queues, and perhaps more importantly it’s also saving the airlines money. However, the robotic world is not for everyone, as the less-tech-savvy are finding out.
Driskill has received awards from the Associated Press for Investigative Reporting and Business Writing and in 1989 was named the John J. McCloy Fellow by the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in New York where he earned his Master's Degree. He is a former president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong. Driskill appears on international broadcast outlets like Al Jazeera, CNA and the BBC and has taught journalism at Hong Kong University and American University of Paris.
In 2022 he was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Aerospace Media Awards Asia organization for his editorials and in 2024 he received a Special Recognition for Editorial Perspectives award from the same organization.
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