ACI EUROPE Activities

Editorial: Connecting Aviation Policy with Market Reality

Europe’s airports certainly did not need yet another terrorist threat in the final days of 2009 to conclude their most challenging year on record. With nearly 3 years of growth lost for passenger traffic – the equivalent of close to 100 million passengers gone – and 4 years of growth lost for freight, the past year already deserved to be called an annus horribilis. By Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE.

Editorial: Renewed call for competitive crisis relief

Fresh data for the third quarter of 2009 released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, have confirmed expectations. With eurozone countries reporting a +0.4% growth compared with the previous three months, European recession is officially over. Although this is certainly good news for aviation, it cannot be taken for more than what it is: brighter light at the end of the tunnel. By Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE.

Editorial: Cautiously looking ahead to better prospects

A year has passed since air traffic started its unprecedented decline in the wake of Lehman Brothers bank going bust. It has certainly not been a cheerful summer for European airports. Systemic capacity cuts by airlines combined with the bankruptcy of MyAir and SkyEurope have translated into traffic losses for the vast majority of airports. Only a happy few have experienced traffic gains, exclusively driven by low cost carriers. But even then, this has often been at the expense of other airports, with aircraft moving from depressed markets to others looking more promising. By Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE.

ACI EUROPE President Address: Turning commitment into action at a critical time

As I near the end of my second term as President of ACI EUROPE and prepare to handover to my successor after the 19th ACI EUROPE Annual Congress, it has been interesting to look back and take stock of all that’s changed since June 2007. Those days looks positively rose-tinted by comparison with the testing and turbulent times that have befallen the European economy since then.

Editorial: Small and regional is beautiful (and very challenging)

The extraordinarily pessimistic times currently befalling the global economy have seen many comparing the current situation with the infamous great depression of the 1930s. For aviation and airports in particular, the analogy fails to deliver any direct relevance. By Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI EUROPE.