The 9th ACI Airport Exchange, presented jointly by ACI EUROPE and ACI Asia-Pacific, took place in Paris on 3-5 November 2014, hosted by Aéroports de Paris. The theme of the event, ‘Best in class airports: Learn from the best to be the best’, resonated throughout the six conference streams – The Keynote Arena; Security & Border Control; Airport Operations; Airport Development & Environment; Facilitation, IT & Customer Service; and Digital Engagement Summit. These were complemented by a diverse exhibition of the latest innovative products, services and solutions, and a fantastic networking social programme provided by the host, Aéroports de Paris.
Augustin de Romanet, Chairman & CEO, Aéroports de Paris, welcomed delegates. “All the successes we have are because of our collaborations with partners,” he said. “All airports, even us, have to learn from the best performers in the world. This conference is set to provide a learning experience and solutions to key industry issues.”
Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE, set the scene with his State of the Airport Industry presentation. In a wide-ranging address, he explained that there was a contrasted performance and a two-speed Europe in 2013, with EU traffic up +1% and non-EU traffic up +9.6%. From January to September 2014, passenger traffic was up +5.5%. Jankovec also referred to network volatility for airports, and the connectivity challenge.
Jean-Paul Huchon, President of the regional council Île de France, explored the crucial role that connectivity, both regional and international, plays in the continued growth and development of Paris and its surrounding area. He told of the revolutionary plans to enhance Grande Paris (or Greater Paris) with a €30 billion investment that will see ground transport transformed by 200km of subway line with 72 stations. The plans will also see the implementation of 25 diversified projects in the area surrounding Paris-CDG Airport.
EUROCONTROL officially launched the Collaborative Environmental Management Specification (CEM) at this year’s ACI Airport Exchange. This sets out a unique collaborative approach to managing environmental impacts at and around airports, supporting all operational stakeholders in their quest to reduce their gaseous and noise emissions as well as improve local air quality. Importantly, EUROCONTROL and ACI EUROPE signed a mutual recognition of their organisations’ support and commitment to aviation’s sustainable development. Pictured are Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE, and Frank Brenner, Director General, EUROCONTROL.
The Airport Development & Environment conference stream provided a platform for discussion of the ways in which airports can expand to meet demand without compromising on sustainability, and to open the stream Phil Wilbraham, Development Director at London Heathrow Airport, presented in fascinating detail the environmental priorities of the recently inaugurated Terminal 2: The Queen’s Terminal – Heathrow’s most sustainable terminal to date. Heathrow’s participation in the Airport Carbon Accreditation initiative support its continued sustainability goals and improved performance.
Michael McElvaney, VP Operations, Hamad International Airport, participated in the Facilitation, IT & Customer Service, assessing the latest technologies and trends he believes airports need to react to, including common use counters, check-in kiosks, baggage drop off options, biometric systems, e-gates, and free WiFi.
Addressing the Airport Operations conference, Frank Brenner, Director General, EUROCONTROL, commented on a wide range of issues, including airspace planning, Collaborative Environmental Management (CEM), Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM), and SESAR deployment.
Participating in the Digital Engagement Summit: Eli Lejeune, Marketing Manager, Eindhoven Airport; Robert O’Meara, Director Media & Communications, ACI EUROPE; Gunnar Sigurdsson, Marketing Director, Isavia, and Vice Chair, ACI EUROPE Digital Communications Forum; Paul Brugger, Founder & CEO, TIC; Jeffrey O’Rourke, Chief Executive, Ink; and Josef Schmitz, Vice President Travel Solutions Consulting, T-Systems International.
The joint Second Working Session between Security & Border Control and Facilitation, IT & Customer Service was a fascinating forum for the exchange of ideas on how airports can best combine premises, processes and people to better shape the experience for passengers. Giorgio Medici, Head of Customer Care, SEA Milano, and Chairman of the ACI EUROPE Facilitation & Customer Services Committee, commented that airports face a challenge “to balance an appropriate level of security with the increasing needs of the increasing number of passengers,” by ensuring the right level of capacity, reduced waiting times, comprehensive security checks and, crucially, by engaging the passenger.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Chief Operating Officer & Executive Vice President Birgit Otto’s was a poignant presentation that explored the harrowing realities faced by an airport, its people and its passengers during one of the most devastating air transport tragedies of recent times. Commenting on the aftermath of flight MH17, she described the airport’s response, how its staff looked after relatives of those onboard, and the lessons learned.
Berk Albarak, COO, Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport; Daniel Burkard, Director Strategy, External & International Relations – Non-aviation, Moscow Domodedovo Airport; Øyvind Hasaas, Managing Director, Oslo Airport; and Patrick Jeantet, COO, Aéroports de Paris, participated in the Airport Development & Environment conference.
Massimiliano Fuksas, Architect, Studio Fuksas – the architect of Terminal 3, Shenzen Bao’an Airport, delivered a truly stirring address. “If you do one airport in your life, you only want to do airports after that. It is a synthesis of everything you have ever done before,” he said.
Frédéric Pierret, Chief Executive Officer, Alliance 46.2, and panellists Augustin de Romanet, Chairman & CEO, Aéroports de Paris; Christophe Cuvillier, CEO, Unibail-Rodamco; Julien Kauffmann, VP Revenue Management & Analytics, Disneyland Paris; Nicolas Petrovic, CEO, Eurostar; and Laurent Haynez, Senior Vice-Chairman, Strategy & Business Development, Galeries Lafayette Group.
Aéroports de Paris this year held an incomparable Welcome Reception at Paris’ renowned Musée d’Orsay – the home of some of the country’s most eminent art works. Aéroports de Paris’ Chairman & CEO Augustin de Romanet welcomed the air transport industry to the event, alongside Patti Chau, Regional Director, ACI Asia-Pacific, and Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE.
Patti Chau, Regional Director, ACI Asia-Pacific, and Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE, officially opened the 9th ACI Airport Exchange Exhibition, which featured leading suppliers and solution providers from every facet of the air transport industry.
Close to 60 exhibitors demonstrated technologies, ideas and strategies that can enable airports to best serve their passengers.
The exhibition seminar theatre, at the heart of the exhibition floor, provided a showcase for leading suppliers to give their insights on the direction of the industry and the pioneering concepts that are enabling its development. Fresh ideas, original concepts and potentially industry changing solutions were all discussed, as was their capacity to enable an airport to be Best in Class.
