ACI ASIA-PACIFIC NAMES YOUNG EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR

Central Japan International Airport’s Masahito Nakashima has joined a select club by being named ACI Asia-Pacific’s Young Executive of the Year.

Nakashima, an assistant manager at Central Japan International Airport, is the 2020 winner of the annual award that is designed to encourage the develop of talented airport individuals across the Asia-Pacific region.

He narrowly beat Hyderabad-Rajiv Gandhi International Airport cargo manager, Naveen Raja Kannamala, and Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport security executive, Abhishek Kumar, to win the award.According to ACI Asia-Pacific, the award aims to drive young talent development at airports in the region and stimulate professional excellence amongst future leaders.

Introduced in 2009, the ACI Asia-Pacific Young Executive of the Year Award is an annual research paper competition to encourage young talents in the Asia-Pacific region to contribute innovative solutions to current aviation industry issues. This year’s topic was ‘Future of Airport Security’.

The panel of judges, chaired by Sheikh Aimen bin Ahmed Al-Hosni, CEO of Oman Airports and Secretary Treasurer of ACI Asia-Pacific, concluded that Nakashima’s submission demonstrated substantial research effort and provided thoughtful recommendations on understanding and fulfilling passengers’ needs in the context of airports.

The top five submissions are posted to ACI Asia-Pacific’s website for airports’ reference.

“The panel of judges and I are very pleased to see the high standard of submissions. It shows that we have many bright, young talents in our region who are passionate about the aviation industry,” enthused Al-Hosni.



“These future leaders serve to inspire us because air transport in 10 years’ time will be very different from today.”

Nakashima will receive a $1,000 cash award and a full fellowship to the Airport Management Professional Accreditation Programme (AMPAP).

The joint ACI/ICAO programme aims to develop the next generation of airport leaders in all functional areas of the airport business and promote the adherence to the highest professional standards and effective sharing of best managerial practices.

“The young talents that excelled this year operate in airport markets that pay particular attention to innovation. In particular, I would like to congratulate Nakashima-san for the impressive findings demonstrated in his paper,” noted ACI Asia-Pacific director general, Stefano Baronci.



“His submission provided innovative case studies for airports to reference to meet passengers’ needs and expectations.

“With our industry in turmoil, we can find a bright spot by continually coaching and encouraging young, talented individuals who will lead our industry in the years to come.”

The Young Executive of the Year award ceremony will be held during the 15th ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Conference & Exhibition in Nara, Japa, on September 15-17, 2020.