By Agata Lyznik
Europe’s regional airports gathered in Kraków, Poland for the 12th Annual ACI EUROPE Regional Airports Conference & Exhibition on 20-22 May 2019. The event, hosted by Kraków Airport, provided the opportunity to review trading conditions and discuss the challenges they face in developing air connectivity and advancing regional cohesion & social inclusion. Over 180 delegates, including representatives of regional airports from 32 European countries, as well as local and national authorities, airlines and ACI EUROPE World Business Partners attended the conference taking place on the eve of European elections.
The theme of this edition, “Regional airports facing the challenges of seasonality – threats and opportunities”, stimulated discussions on sustainability, passenger experience, advances in technology, essential tools for performance management and other key issues for the continent’s regional gateways.
The 13th ACI EUROPE Regional Airports Conference & Exhibition will take place on 10-12 May 2020 in Palermo, hosted by Palermo Airport.
Pictured from the left: Radosław Włoszek, CEO, Kraków Airport; Andrzej Miłaszewicz, CEO, Lagardère Duty Free; and Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE.
Henrik Mørch, Director for Transport, Post and other Services, DG Competition, spoke about the EU State aid rules, the importance of regional air connectivity for social inclusion & the dangers of airline consolidation.
In Session One, representatives of Innsbruck Airport, Fraport Bulgaria, Memmingen Airport, Cranfield University, the Assembly of European Regions AER, and LOT Polish Airlines discussed cooperation with regional stakeholders, involving the local community in the airport business.
Maria Villanueva, Senior Consultant, m1nd-set, set the stage for Session Three: Knockout KPI’s for regional airports, with a data-driven presentation on passenger satisfaction at regional airports.
Mikołaj Wild, Plenipotentiary of the Government for the Central Airport and Railway Hub (Centralny Port Komunikacyjny – CPK), filled the room in on the plans for the new Solidarity Hub and the improvements to the connectivity of the region it will bring.
Rafał Milczarski, CEO at LOT Polish Airlines: “Our home turf is Central Europe – there are highly motivated, proactive people here, who have the EU at heart. We want to deliver the best connectivity to fuel their success.”
