The keynote speech was given by Pascal Lamy, former Director General World Trade Organization and former European Commissioner for Trade, who focused on the geopolitical situation, terrorism and digital empowerment.
27th ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Congress & Exhibition, Paris, 12-14 June
The 27th ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Congress & Exhibition, hosted by Groupe ADP, took place on 12-14 June. The theme of this year’s event was ‘Airport Leadership in Change’. The event attracted over 350 delegates from airports, airlines and ANSPs, as well as other aviation partners and the European Commission.
The Annual Congress also saw the election of Dr Michael Kerkloh, President & CEO, Munich Airport, as President of ACI EUROPE, as well as announcement of the ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards.
The 28th ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Congress & Exhibition will be hosted by Brussels Airport on 18-20 June 2018.
 The first keynote interview with Jean-Marc Janaillac, Chairman & CEO, Air France-KLM, focused on the priorities of the group in terms of the long-haul market, and its strategy to increase its competitiveness. |
 ACI EUROPE Director General Olivier Jankovec addressed the state of the airport industry with a focus on air traffic developments, economic and financial performance, the expansion of LCCs and the latest trends in connectivity, as revealed in the ACI EUROPE Airport Industry Connectivity Report 2017. |
This year’s General Assembly has seen European airports set themselves an even higher target for their carbon management. In revision of the former pledge, pronounced at COP21, 100 European airports instead of 50 are bound to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. With 28 airports in the region already carbon neutral, a further 26 have made specific commitments to achieve this goal. Their representatives were asked to come on stage for a commemorative picture.
Augustin de Romanet, Chairman & CEO, Groupe ADP, and outgoing President of ACI EUROPE, made a political intervention that covered the biggest challenges facing our industry: security (landside and the risk of an electronics ban); Brexit and the potential risks posed for our industry; need for more Open Skies with new, growing aviation markets; and airport charges.
The second keynote interview was with Filip Cornelis, Director Aviation, DG MOVE, European Commission, who talked about how the regulatory framework for air transport is coping with industry and geopolitical challenges including Brexit, potential threats to Open Skies, the European Commission’s review of the Airport Charges Directive, and new safety initiatives from EASA.
The First Working Session focused on airline change. Chaired by Peter Harbison, Executive Chairman, CAPA, the panel featured Jean-Jacques Cloquet, CEO Brussels South Charleroi Airport; Kevin Toland CEO daa; Dr Stefan Schulte, CEO Fraport; Oliver Wagner, CCO Eurowings; Vijay Poonoosamy, VP International Affairs, Etihad Airways; and Matthew Wood, VP Network Development, Norwegian.
The Second Working Session focused on security and border control. Chaired by Johnnie Müller, Security Director, Copenhagen Airport, the panel included Peter Knudsen, CEO BLIP Systems; Franck Goldnadel, Executive Director, Chief Airport Operations Officer and Managing Director, Paris-CDG, Groupe ADP; and Filip Cornelis, Director Aviation, DG MOVE, European Commission.
The Third Working Session explored airports living and trading through drastic change. It was chaired by Gherardo Baruffa, Managing Director Airport Group, Crédit Agricole CIB, with a panel comprising Daniel Burkard, Deputy Airport Director, Moscow Domodedovo Airport; Julian Jäger, Joint CEO and COO, Vienna Airport; and Eleni Kaloyirou, CEO Hermes Airports.
The gala dinner featured the 13th ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards. The winners were Cork Airport (under 5 million passengers), Naples Airport (5-10 million passengers), Alicante-Elche Airport (10-25 million passengers), Madrid-Barajas Airport (over 25 million passengers), Munich Airport (Eco-Innovation), Larnaka Airport (Accessible Airport Award), Paula Stannett, Heathrow (HR Excellence Award), and Catherine Mayer, VP, SITA (WBP Recognition Award).
The Fourth Working Session featured Niclas Svenningsen, Manager, Strategy & Relationships Unit, UNFCCC; Wolfgang Hesina, CEO Dialogue Forum Vienna; Bill Hemmings, Director Aviation & Shipping, Transport & Environment; Jos Nijhuis, President & CEO, Schiphol Group; and Thierry Nowaczyk, EU Environmental Affairs Director, Airbus. Session chairman was Matt Gorman, Sustainability & Environment Director, Heathrow Airport.
The Airport Leaders’ Symposium focused on the compelling issues facing airports, and debated aviation business development models and strategy.
The two-day exhibition featured a diverse mix of airport suppliers, covering areas including IT solutions, bag tag and bag drop solutions, passenger boarding bridges, queue and flow management, critical communications, and parking guidance systems.
