26th ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Congress & Exhibition, Athens, 20-22 June
The 26th ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Congress & Exhibition, hosted by Athens International Airport, took place on 20-22 June. The theme of this year’s event was “There is nothing permanent except change – towards a radical remodelling of passenger & airline customer relationships”. 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 re-election of Augustin de Romanet, President & CEO, Aéroports de Paris S.A. – Groupe ADP, for a second term as President of ACI EUROPE, as well as announcement of the ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards.
The 27th ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Congress & Exhibition will be hosted by Aéroports de Paris S.A.– Groupe ADP on 12-14 June 2017.
Arnaud Feist, CEO Brussels Airport Company, delivered a special keynote presentation & leadership briefing: “The Brussels Airport Attack – and Afterwards.” Brussels Airport won this year’s ACI EUROPE Best Airport Award in the ‘10-25 million passenger’ category, and Feist won the special Leader of the Year Award for his extraordinary leadership and courage together with his remarkable decisiveness and wisdom in managing the aftermath of the terrorist attack at Brussels Airport on 22 March.
Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE, delivered his traditional State of the Industry address. He focused on a number of areas, including air traffic developments, economic & financial performance, and changing patterns of airport connectivity. “There is no doubt that hub competition is on the increase, and that there is more to come,” Jankovec commented. “Looking ahead, we are seeing potentially more disruption coming not just from long haul low cost operations, but also from low cost carriers starting to feed into other airlines or even within their own networks. This could bring massive changes to European aviation. Ultimately, it means we are set to move towards a more hybrid airport market.”
Dr Yiannis Paraschis, CEO Athens International Airport, welcomed delegates. “2016 marks two, or should I say three, important anniversaries. It is 15 years since the opening of the airport, and 20 years since establishment of the airport company. Additionally, ACI EUROPE is celebrating 25 years since its establishment. It is, therefore, our utmost pleasure and privilege to jointly celebrate all these years of aviation experience by hosting the 26th ACI EUROPE General Assembly, Congress & Exhibition.”
Augustin de Romanet, ACI EUROPE President, and President & CEO of Aéroports de Paris S.A. – Groupe ADP, addressed the challenges faced by European aviation and shared his views on related policy implications. Commenting on the EU Aviation Strategy, he said: “The main focus of the Strategy is to improve our access to emerging markets and boost Europe’s connectivity. This is a very important agenda for Europe’s airports, as it will allow us to secure new business opportunities and develop our route networks.”
In a special keynote interview, Dimitris Gerogiannis, Managing Director, Aegean Airlines, spoke about the Star Alliance carrier’s growth, which is many times higher than the market rate. It has launched over 100 new routes since acquiring Olympic Air in 2013.
The Airport Leaders’ Symposium focused on the compelling issues facing airports, and debated aviation business development models and strategy. Chaired by David Feldman, Managing Partner, Exambela Consulting, the panellists included Dr Yiannis Paraschis, CEO Athens International Airport; Dr Sani Sener, CEO TAV Airports; Augustin de Romanet, ACI EUROPE President, and President & CEO of Aéroports de Paris S.A. – Groupe ADP; Robert Sinclair, CEO Bristol Airport; Stephan Widrig, CEO Zurich Airport; and Ugo de Carolis, CEO Aeroporti di Roma.
The Investors’ Forum discussed how airports are profitably investing, and how the environment for airport investment is evolving in Europe. Chaired by Andrew Blease, Associate Managing Director, Moody’s Investors Service, the panellists included José Manuel Vargas, Chairman & CEO, Aena; Nicolas Notebaert, Chairman, VINCI Airports; Mathias Burghardt, Member of Executive Committee, Head of Infrastructure Group, Ardian; and Ingo Ludwig, Director, Mergers & Acquisitions, AviAlliance.
Dr Stefan Schulte, Chairman of the Executive Board, Fraport, gave a special presentation on ‘Investing in the future of Greece’. Fraport has 40-year concessions to operate, manage, develop and maintain 14 regional airports in Greece. He described this as an “attractive, tourist-driven airport portfolio with further growth potential”.
The First Working Session examined ‘New connectivity patterns and the changing relationship between flag carriers and low cost airlines at our airports’. Chaired by Ralph Anker, Chief Analyst, anna.aero, the session featured contributions from Mark Schwab, CEO Star Alliance; Thomas Woldbye, CEO Copenhagen Airports; Kate Sherry, Director of Route Development, Ryanair; Kata Cserep, Vice President, Global Managing Director – Airports, ICF International; and Henrik Mørch, Director DG Competition, European Commission.
The Second Working Session asked ‘Are the airports’ main B2C partners and stakeholders radically addressing the changing ways that consumers shop?’ Chaired by Johan Schölvinck, Vice-President Commercial, InterVISTAS Consulting Group and Vice-Chair, ACI EUROPE Commercial Forum, it featured Johnnie Voutsas, Chief Travel Retail Officer, Folli Follie Group; Ambroise Fondeur, CEO Duty Free Global, Lagardère Travel Retail; Pedro Castro, CEO Southern Europe & Africa, Dufry; Declan Collier, CEO London City Airport and Chair, ACI World; and Stephan Uhrenbacher, CEO FLIO.
The Third Working Session examined ‘Hub versus point-to-point in an era of disruptive change: Evolving and radical airport marketing and route development models’. Chaired by George Karamanos, Managing Director, KPI Aviation Marketing Solutions, the panellists were Kevin Toland, CEO daa; Jost Lammers, CEO Budapest Airport; Dr Michael Kerkloh, President & CEO, Munich Airport; Florian Kruse, Chief Commercial Officer, Bremen Airport; and Léon Verhallen, Head of Aviation Marketing, Brussels Airport.
The Gala Dinner took place at The Island and was an opportunity to celebrate ACI EUROPE’s 25th anniversary. The evening also saw the presentation of the 12th ACI EUROPE Best Airport Awards. The winners were: Keflavik Airport (under 5 million passengers), Glasgow Airport (5-10 million passengers), Brussels Airport (10-25 million passengers), London Heathrow Airport (over 25 million passengers), Oslo Airport (Eco-Innovation Award), and Dublin Airport (Accessible Airport Award). The WBP Recognition Award went to Johan Schölvinck, Vice-President Commercial, InterVISTAS Consulting Group and Vice-Chair, ACI EUROPE Commercial Forum. Finally, ACI EUROPE created a special Leader of the Year Award this year – the recipient was Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport Company.
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, airport e-commerce platforms, and infrastructure management systems.
