EVENTS: ACI WORLD ASSEMBLY
“Our airport service quality (ASQ) has, of course, been our standout programme in performance measurement and benchmarking. We added an enhanced retail component to the programme last year, and will add performance on accommodating passengers with reduced mobility, and more data analysis. “All of our standing committees are engaged in developing performance measurements, developing key performance indicators in all of the major disciplines in which we work. The IT committee will have ready this year a benchmarking programme for the security of IT systems at our airports, an increasing concern given the dependence of our business and that of our tenants on the airport’s information technology functions. “The safety and technical committee is developing key performance indicators for aerodrome safety, which will enable benchmarking, reporting and performance improvement across the sector. The facilitation committee has developed a guideline for airport service levels which we will either have incorporated in the airport design manual or issue as a stand-alone recommended practice. “The economics committee will refine its previously published guidance for financial and efficiency performance indicators. We all know how difficult it is to compare airports but we also know that we can only manage what we can measure.” Key resolutions passed at the ACI World Assembly included urging ICAO, states and other stakeholders to work together to support and promote the use of airport collaborative decision making (A-CDM). Others included calling on airports to support the development of next generation security; a plea for states and other stakeholders
to work collaboratively through ICAO to reach agreement on measures to reduce aviation’s impact on the environment; and, establishing a vision to ensure that passengers’ needs are addressed both when the system operates well and during periods of disruption. ACI also passed a resolution calling on ICAO and states to ensure that airports are consulted by air navigation service providers and aircraft operators before implementing new performance based management routes, so as to avoid adverse noise impact on those communities. An eventful second day ended with a Gala Dinner, held in the spectacular Ciragan Palace Kempinski on the banks of the Bosphorus, which included an awards ceremony for this year’s Airport Service Quality (ASQ) winners. Four new airports were inducted into the Director General’s Roll of Excellence – Cancún, Juan Santamaria, Malta and Shanghai Pudong. The honour recognises airports that have ranked among the top five in ASQ for five years. For the first time, the ACI World gathering was preceded by a pre-conference conference – in this case it was a Safety Symposium where delegates got to learn a little more about ACI’s Airport Excellence (APEX) in Safety Programme and other key safety issues. “Safety is the top priority for our industry,” said Gittens. “It is vital that airports identify and address their safety vulnerabilities.” Istanbul will be a hard act to follow, but with next year’s ACI World Assembly, Conference & Exhibition being in the dynamic city of Seoul, South Korea – in conjunction with ACI Asia-Pacific – you know we are in for something special!
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AIRPORT WORLD/AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2013