EVENTS: ACI WORLD ASSEMBLY
He said that Europe’s airports have evolved, and now have a stronger focus on business strategy and costs, enjoy more direct engagement with passengers, provide increased quality and boast diversified revenue streams. The developments, claimed Jankovec, have helped reinforce the status of airports as fully-fledged and competitive businesses, focused on their customers and supporting the economies of their communities. However, despite 2012 seeing a significant weakening in the recovery of air traffic that followed the 2008/2009 global financial crisis, Jankovec admitted that being profitable remained a key issue for the continent’s gateways. “Europe is not just about a two-speed aviation market between EU and non-EU countries. There is also a big divide between the larger hubs and the smaller regional airports,” he said. “The hubs are showing a lot of resilience due to their reliance on intercontinental traffic. Meanwhile, small regional airports are almost exclusively dependent on intra-European demand and they have been the hardest hit by airlines’ capacity and route cutting. Overall, 48% of Europe’s airports are losing traffic.” With the pace of growth slowing down in the global economy, record unemployment increasingly being recognised as the new Eurozone crisis, and no tangible prospects for real improvement in the economy this year, demand for air transport in Europe is likely to be stagnant at best, he warned. Outgoing ACI Europe president, Declan Collier, shocked some of the 825 delegates from 65 countries in the audience with the announcement that an airport capacity crunch in Europe could cost the European economy €230 billion. He said that despite recessionary pressures and the weak economic prospects affecting most of Europe, there was little appetite to capitalise on the strategic role aviation can play for growth and jobs.
“Short-termism, micro-politics, regulatory burden, red tape, bilateralism and the urge to refill the state coffers are the forces that co ntinue to pay havoc with the European aviation sector. “Few European countries have a thoroughly thought-through and fully formulated aviation policy. Long-term challenges are being ignored at our peril.” He noted that the recently completed Challenges of Growth 2013 report from EUROCONTROL shows that despite slower traffic growth prospects in the next 20 years, Europe continues to face a severe airport capacity crunch. Revenue pressures, capital costs, a lack of political support, poor planning processes and decreasing confidence are all “colluding to constrain airport development” in Europe, said Collier. He added: “This report is a warning bell for European aviation. It means that more than ever, Europe’s airports need to be given their licence to plan, finance and deliver new facilities – all within reasonable time frames.” He called for a European Action Plan on airport capacity that would seriously address the airport capacity crunch. On a brighter note, ACI Africa became the latest region to join the ACI Europe launched Airport Carbon Accreditation programme (please see page 97 for more details).
ACI World Assembly
Speaking at the ACI World Assembly, Gittens said: “A major feature of the dynamic airport business transformation is the increased focus on setting targets and measuring performance. “The business has become competitive and transparent, so we now need to continuously know how we are doing, compared to targets, compared to best practice, compared to others and compared to customer expectation or demand.
AIRPORT WORLD/AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2013
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