ACI ASIA-PACIFIC NEWS
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New resolutions, the election of the ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Board for the next three years and committee news make the headlines, writes Vivian Fung.
Members voted to adopt two new resolutions at the 12th ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly, Conference & Exhibition in Qatar, calling for ‘mutual support within the airport community’ for ACI’s safety, security and training programmes and another to ‘consider strengthening landside security’.
“We called upon members to provide mutual support within the airport community by taking part in ACI APEX in Safety and Security programmes and to make use of ACI training courses and seminars as we work together towards the long-term sustainability and growth of the air transport industry,” says ACI Asia-Pacific’s regional director, Patti Chau.
“Through this resolution, we wish to provide a positive response to ICAO’s ‘No Country Left Behind’ campaign and remind our members of the ACI services available.
“The second resolution called upon our members to consider enhancing landside security, through practical and common-sense approaches.”
ICAO’s Aviation Security and Facilitation Plan Development Group
ACI was present at the second meeting of ICAO’s Aviation Security and Facilitation Plan Development Group in Abu Dhabi in May, where it presented a paper encouraging the adoption of One-Stop Security (OSS) in its work plan.
The paper listed a number of success factors for OSS, including the harmonisation of security measures and quality control plans, and invited the meeting, hosted by the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority, to discuss other possible success factors and challenges.
Regional Board Directors – comings and goings
ACI Asia-Pacific’s new Board includes 13 Regional Board Directors, each elected for a three-year term.
New faces include Turki Abdullah Aljawini (King Fahd International Airport, Saudi Arabia); Gholam Hossain Bagherian (Iran Airports & Air Navigation Company, Iran); Eric Delobel (Cambodia Airports, Cambodia); and Greg Fordham (Airbiz, representing
World Business Partners).
While re-elected for another three years are Sulaiman Abidin (Yangon Aerodrom Company Limited, Myanmar); Ali Salim Al Midfa (Sharjah Airport Authority, UAE); Derun Li (Shanghai Airport Authority, China); Xue Song Liu (Beijing Capital International Airport, China); Pedro Roy Martinez (AB Won Pat International Airport, Guam);
A Chandrakumaran Nair (Cochin International Airport, India); Sasisubha Sukontasap (Airports of Thailand, Thailand); Il-Hwan Sung (Korea Airports Corporation, Korea; and Dar-jen Tseng (Taoyuan International Airport, Chinese Taipei).
The four new appointments meant that we said goodbye to Aimen bin Ahmed Al Hosni (Oman Airports Management Company, Oman); Kjeld Binger (Airport International Goup, Jordan); Kenichi Fukaya (Narita International Airport Corporation, Japan); and Mark Young (Adelaide Airport Limited, Australia).
Chau commented: “I am confident that this new Board composition will bring new insights to the development of the airport industry in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Committee review
The fifth ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Economics Committee meeting was held in Doha in April. The committee reviewed the draft ACI Asia-Pacific 2016 Economic Review; proposed two new areas of focus in the 2018-2020 Committee Work Plan; and shared best practice in Airline Credit Management, Pricing Incentives Schemes and LCC Terminals.
The meeting also featured a guest speaker from the ACI Expert Group on Slots who provided an update on ACI’s latest advocacy activities. Jeffrey Loke from Singapore Changi Airport was re-elected as committee chair for a two-year term.
Green strategies
The eighth ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Environment Committee meeting was also concluded during the region’s annual conference in Doha.
The Committee formally endorsed the formation of the Strategic Plan, Climate Change Adaptation and Aircraft Noise Management Working Groups, with deliverables on input to ACI Asia-Pacific’s 2018-2020 Business Plan, case studies/data gathering for noise management and mapping of different approaches to climate adaptation planning in the region.
Data sharing
The 19th meeting of the ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Operational Safety Committee decided that the safety data-sharing programme should be expanded to all Asia-Pacific Regular Members in 2018.
The committee also decided to start drafting guidelines on accident investigation and root cause analysis at the next meeting.
Security issues
The 20th meeting of the ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Aviation Security Committee decided to create working groups to draft guidelines to help airports counter insider threats and strengthen cybersecurity.
The meeting discussed and formulated ACI positions for two upcoming ICAO regional security meetings.
Members expressed concern at the safety risks posed by the increased number of checked-in personal electronic devices in aircraft holds since the ban of personal electronic devices in late March 2017.
The committee was of the view that airports impacted by the ban should communicate the restrictions to passengers and other stakeholders, such as airport retailers selling the devices, to facilitate the check-in of duty free electronics as much as possible.
Please visit www.aci-asiapac.aero/about/main/3/ for more information about ACI Asia-Pacific’s Regional Committees.
