Director General ACI World Angela Gittens welcomes her new colleague, "Javier is a talented and dynamic leader. We count on his leadership in pursuing the members’ key concerns and priorities across the LAC Region with good understanding of the key business development parameters. ACI forecasts that Latin American airport traffic will continue to climb by 5% per annum for the next 20 years - a challenging perspective for the region’s members and for Javier at the head of the association."   

Martinez Botacio, a native of Panama , has a strong background for taking up this position. He holds a Bachelor in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad Santa María la Antigua from Panama City and an MBA from INCAE Business School from Costa Rica . For the past seven years he has led Tocumen International Airport in Panama , as part of the executive team responsible for the modernization and expansion of the Panamanian international gateway.   

Specially focused on the strategic planning area at Tocumen, Martinez Botacio says, "The key challenge has been to ensure the transition from a traditional government-run organization to a public corporation that prioritizes customer service and operational and financial efficiency. To manage this major transformation, we set up a strategic platform for the new organization as well as developed the internal administrative and functional processes required for a successful transition. This experience will serve me well in taking up my new functions with ACI LAC, where I will encourage greater sharing of information and best practice know-how among the members.”  

Martinez Botacio is well known to the ACI-LAC airport community. For several years, he has also been one of the most active members of the ACI-LAC Board and has dedicated much of his energy and time to the crucial training and development efforts tailored for the members of ACI-LAC.   

The ACI-LAC Regional Board has called on Martinez Botacio to strengthen the association.  Southwell, the President of the Board, comments, " We are confident that Javier will usher in a new era of growth and vitality for the organization.  A strategic thinker, he recognizes the positive leadership role that a strong airport association in Latin America can play – benefiting the economic and social development of the communities, nations and the region we serve."   

Martinez Botacio is enthusiastic about his new role: “This is a truly challenging opportunity for me, and I have made a commitment to the members of the Executive Board to support them in the redirection of our organization for the next several years. I want to get the members directly involved, provide them with more quality services in terms of training and internal communication, and at the same time promote cooperation and more effective joint work in the ACI-LAC Standing Committees on all key issues.”  

Gittens concurs, "Performance excellence in our global aviation network relies on partnership and collaboration to face the many external challenges in our fast changing sector. Each region has specific priorities to address, and ACI World looks forward to supporting Javier’s regional agenda through our coordinated international efforts on behalf of all regions at ICAO and with global industry partners and aviation stakeholder groups."