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ACI EUROPE Director General Olivier Jankovec explained that 2013 was a year of recovery, with the Russian and Turkish markets performing very well, and the southern European markets still affected by the economic crisis. “All in all, it comes down to a two-speed market for Europe,” he said. In 2013, EU countries saw 1% growth and non-EU countries 9.6% growth. Jankovec was positive for the outlook for 2014. Turning to macro-economics, he added: “We’re seeing the economic recovery in Europe gathering pace. The US economy is also performing increasingly better. Where there are concerns are the emerging markets, where we see a slowdown in economic growth.”

ACI World Director General Angela Gittens delivered a preview of the 2013 ACI Economics Report, which contains global indicators and analyses for over 680 airports, representing 70% of the world’s passenger traffic. Gittens explained that worldwide traffic increased by 4% in 2013, while global airport income in 2012 grew by 4.4% to reach US$117bn. “Aeronautical revenues alone are not enough. The move to revenue diversification has been key to the financial resilience of airports, with retail the leading source of non-aeronautical revenues,” she said.

Patti Chau, Regional Director, ACI Asia-Pacific, referred to the healthy growth of airports in the Asia-Pacific. Indeed, 9 of the world’s 20 busiest airports are located in the Asia-Pacific region. “No doubt, this is partly down to the growth of Asian LCCs, which account for over 50% of intra-Asian traffic,” she commented. Chau also referred to the recent inaugural EU-ASEAN Summit held in Singapore, and the fact that a single ASEAN aviation market is planned by 2015 – a development supported by ACI Asia-Pacific.

Dr Charles Schlumberger, Lead Air Transport Specialist at The World Bank, gave an energetic keynote address. He engaged the audience by presenting two different scenarios: the first that air transport will continue to grow and passenger traffic will double by 2030; the second, a more pessimistic view that economic data is misleading and that the global economy is not recovering, while conventional oil production will soon decline, triggering a global energy crisis. He asked delegates to vote for which scenario they felt was most likely – the results were interesting, with 49% optimistic, 50% pessimistic, and 1% abstaining. That contrasted sharply with the results of a similar poll at last year’s event, when 73% had a positive outlook, 25% a negative outlook, and 2% abstained.

Declan Collier, CEO London City Airport, emphasised the increasing competition between airports for new business, as well as the competition that exists between modes of transport, particularly in Europe. He also referred to the fragile finances of Europe’s smaller airports – 51% of airports handling fewer than 5m annual passengers are loss-making. Collier also raised the subject of airline evolution. “We are seeing more mergers, bigger airlines changing their patterns of doing business, and LCCs evolving,” he said.

Tony Tyler, Director General & CEO, IATA, referred to a briefing paper that the airline trade association released last year on airport competition. That was in response to a study of Airport Competition in Europe published by Copenhagen Airports and Dr Harry Bush. Tyler said: “Our research shows there is still a need for robust, smart regulation, so that there are clear guidelines for airports.” He added: “Airports and airlines are always going to have differences, but we should focus on areas where we can work together.”

Kyran Hanks, Strategy & Regulation Director, explained that London Gatwick acknowledges that the UK Civil Aviation Authority has continued to accept its Contracts and Commitments framework as the best way forward to regulation. He said the framework is underpinned by a licence, supplemented by annual monitoring of pricing, service quality and capex, and that a review will take place in the second half of 2016 to check how the Commitments are working in practice.

Emma Gilthorpe, Director Strategy, Planning and Regulation, criticised the price cap imposed on London Heathrow by the UK CAA in its decision on price regulation of the airport, while recognising that it’s correct that Heathrow should be regulated in the current five-year period. “Heathrow operates in a vibrant, dynamic competitive environment. Regulation is supposed to reflect competition. Heathrow does not compete in the same market as London Gatwick. We are the only hub airport in the UK,” she said.

Michael McGhee, Partner, Global Infrastructure Partners, explained that London City, London Gatwick and Edinburgh airports are all performing well. He said the GIP approach to airport investment is to “improve the assets”, with a “long-term approach” focused on “delivering better service”. McGhee also highlighted a step-change in efficiency at London Gatwick, where it has managed to increase runway capacity at the single-runway airport from 50 movements per hour to 55. The new target is 58 movements per hour.

Dr Waleed Youssef, Director, Middle East Region, TAV Airports Holding: “We are very fortunate to work in such a dynamic industry that continues to grow. Our focus is on innovation and optimising our operations. One area of innovation is our industry’s focus on commercially oriented operations – this is taking place whether we are publicly or privately owned.”