Max Moore-Wilton, President of the ACI Asia-Pacific Region, built on the theme of strengthening the association, emphasizing that faced with successive crises, airports need to be more competitive, focusing on innovation and market efficiency, seconding Cherry’s insistence on contributing to making industry progress on the environmental challenge.

The first keynote speaker was the Director General, DCA Malaysia, Dato’ Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, who gave an overview on the situation in Malaysia as it relates to the global scene of economic recession and airline losses. He highlighted the significant airport challenges that we are managing today and that we will have to manage in the future. With the return of industry traffic growth, we will be constantly keeping guard to reduce accidents and incidents, meet the capacity challenge with adequate infrastructure, and meet ICAO global standards of Annex 14 for widespread implementation of safety management systems and aerodrome certification. He called for a pragmatic approach to assist airports as they strive to contain or reduce costs so that we may emerge stronger in the long term.

Two keynote speakers were introduced by Tom Ballantyne, chief editor of the magazine “Orient Aviation” and knowledgeable industry journalist. The first was Greg Duffell, President and CEO of PATA, who presented the travel and tourism perspective on how our two sectors dovetail in mutual interest to find solutions in this challenging period. He pointed to potential growth markets in the region, including not only China and India, so often flagged by industry observers, but also Chinese Taipei, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore - each with specific characteristics that promise future opportunities. Business travel remains depressed but other potential markets exist -- younger travellers and more nationalities. Airports are the gateways to new destinations. He highlighted factors that will impact the Asia Pacific industry, such as the increased competition with improved rail travel and regional roadways that will challenge air freight loads, as will increasingly widespread open skies agreements. He cited China as the hotspot for new growth, with plans for 92 new airports. He closed with a call for greater partnership with the tourism sector, to prepare for these changes and new distribution models and that we move together from strategizing to executing.

The final speaker for the morning was Alexander ter Kuile, Secretary General, CANSO. He called on airports to do a better job of collaborating and improving relations with airlines and ANSPs. He argued that many of the achievements of the industry had occurred in spite of the system, not because of the system, and called on industry stakeholders to pool their resources and drop the “blame game” to produce better benefit for all.

Ter Kuile said, “In fact, I believe our aviation system faces such technological and managerial challenges over the coming decades, that the old way of doing business will no longer deliver the results society demands. We need to find a new collective approach towards the management of our aviation industry.”

He called upon all industry players to follow eight guiding principles of complex resource management, following a proposal by 2009 Nobel Prize for Economics winner Elinor Ostrom. He emphasized that we need a clear framework that incentivizes performance.He called for collective decision-making not silos, with greater involvement of all participants in the process, and for resolution mechanisms for differences not stand-offs. The industry needs responsible compliance monitoring with graduated sanctions for those who would refuse to act. Finally he recommended a “layered Triple A approach” to manage our complex industry through a coordination structure based on a shared strategic vision and direction set at the global level with regional coordination right down to national industry-wide bodies.

He closed by saying, “I maintain that the health of the aviation system – the integrity of our operations – depends on our collective strength. When we all take collective responsibility and coordinate our actions to put the aviation system at the heart of our decision-making, then we will know that the future of our industry and the integrity of our system are secure.”

The Annual Assembly reviewed all proposals from the Board, and approved 5 resolutions this year on the topics of health emergency preparedness, noise mitigation, safeguard of duty free sales at airports, thanks to the host MAHB, and global sectoral approach for aviation inclusion in climate change debate. The resolutions are reprinted on the following pages.

The Assembly also approved nomination of three new honorary members, who in past years served the ACI organization with highest levels of commitment and dedication: Mr. Richard A. Siegel, Mr. Bob Manning and Mr. Lou Turpen.