Here’s what you missed at the International Airport Summit 2024

It’s been two weeks since our event brought the aviation community together at the International Airport Summit 2024.

Over two incredible days, we explored innovative solutions, heard inspiring success stories, and engaged in thought-provoking discussions about the future of our industry.

As we reflect on the event, we’ve highlighted four key takeaways that showcase the trends, technologies, and insights shaping the aviation sector. Whether you joined us or couldn’t make it this year, we’re excited to share these valuable learnings with you.

Keynote: Airport Executive Forum: What’s keeping them awake at night?

The opening keynote session of the International Airport Summit asked the airport executives “What’s keeping them awake at night?” and delved into the multi-faceted challenges faced by airport executives in their demanding roles – in other words “which ball do you try not to drop?” said moderator Thomas Romig, Chief Operations Officer of Brussels Airport.

Johanne Gallant, CEO of Fredericton International Airport in Canada, said that what is keeping her awake at night is that she is spending an inordinate amount of time in human resources, “working from home versus in person creates a lot of conflict, and this is something that people have come to expect coming out of the pandemic.”

Piervittorio Farabbi, Chief Operating Officer of Tirana International Airport in Albania said he is dealing with a happy problem in that they are experiencing passenger volumes 200% over what they were in 2019. The challenges with this come in terms of capacity and having enough airport workers to assist customers with their queries. “We should maybe think about having housing for airport workers near the airport site in order to retain workers better,” he said.

Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director of Manchester Airport in the UK, spoke about the net zero challenge and the UK sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate which requires that at least 10% of UK jet fuel comes from sustainable sources by 2030. Despite this ambitious target, the UK has no SAF supply, so to meet this demand, airports would have to ship SAF across the Atlantic which negates the sustainability element. Chris said: “Maybe it’s time airports got involved in the manufacture of SAF.”

L-R: Chris Woodroofe, MD, Manchester Airport; Johanne Gallant, President & CEO, Fredericton International Airport; Piervittorio Farabbi, COO, Tirana Airport. Credit: International Airport Review (IAR).

Revolutionising the retail and F&B experience

For the ‘Revolutionising the retail and F&B experience’ panel, the speakers spoke about the importance of commercial revenues for airports which account for on average 40% of global airport revenues. The landscape of airport retail has changed dramatically within the past five years, consumers now buy from online platforms and passengers are a lot more clued up about pricing as they are able to do research on their mobile phones to see if they can get it cheaper elsewhere.

At Milwaukee International Airport, Airport Director Brian Dranzik, said that 60% of the airport’s traffic is now going out before 10am which has meant that they have had to evolve their offering to feature quite heavily on the coffee and breakfast offerings.

Panel speaker Tyronia Smith, Assistant General Manager Commercial Revenue, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said that at her airport they saw 105 million passengers pre-COVID and this year, they are on track to serve 108-110 million passengers. Despite this, they have not revamped their concessions since 2012, so it is Tyronia’s role to overhaul 320 locations to ensure that it remains fresh for the next couple of years.

When asked about the future, Brian said: “In the next five years, I think we will be seeing more use of technology and the analytics that go with it”. Tyronia agreed, adding that “we don’t have all the information on the passengers, so we have to do the best that we can until we can start sharing information and data with the airlines.”

L-R: Brian Dranzik, Airport Director, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport; Tyronia Smith, Assistant General Manager Commercial Revenue, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; Nicola Gualandi, Retail & Advertising Manager, Aeroporto Marconi di Bologna. Credit: IAR.

Security measures against rebounding and emerging threats

This panel discussion brought together security experts and industry leaders to address the evolving landscape of threats to airport safety.

Panellist Laxman Moyo, Director Aviation Security, Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, spoke about one airport’s experience with three bomb threats in one day where aircraft were turned back to their station. Bomb threats are a growing problem in his region, and the nature and magnitude is increasing, said Laxman.

Panellist Oliver Braun, Head of Security at Berlin Brandenburg Airport spoke about how to build a strong security strategy. Oliver said that at Berlin Airport, their main threat at this moment is climate activists. Oliver emphasised that strong collaboration is needed inside airports and with airlines and law enforcement and a 360-degree holistic view, a united approach and the right personnel.

“Insider threat can be 1% of all employees but 99% of your employees are silent security guards,” said Oliver. He went on to discuss Berlin Airport’s “see something, say something” campaign to ensure that security is owned by everyone at the airport, not just the security staff.

Oana Muresan, Head of Business Development at OSL discussed the threat drones pose to airports and the steps that airports can take to counteract these threats as the regulations are still playing catch-up.

L-R: Oliver Braun, Head of Security, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg GmbH; Oana Muresan, Head of Business Development, OSL; Laxman Moyo, Director Aviation Security, Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe. Credit: IAR.

Data-driven decision making: Defining the future of airport operational excellence

This International Airport Summit panel explored the pivotal role of data-driven strategies in advancing airport operational excellence. With digitalisation, sustainability, and evolving passenger expectations at the forefront, the discussion emphasised that operational excellence transcends the mere adoption of advanced technologies. Instead, it requires a cultural transformation within organisations and the broader industry.

Highlights include Quito International Airport, which has achieved Level 5 in the ACI World customer experience accreditation, and 4+ in the airport carbon accreditation, panellist Ramón Miró, President & CEO of Quito International Airport, said: “Ecuador is not a rich country but our staff and data-driven decision making is what I say was the key to achieving these high levels of customer experience and sustainability”.

Panellist Gerri Sinclair, Interim Vice President, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer of Vancouver International Airport spoke about the airport’s digital twin which is fed by over 200 different data sources including sensors. Gerri said that when introducing new technologies, not everyone will be won over immediately. However, the digital twin proved its worth when Vancouver experienced a “snowmageddon” event and you could not see anything on the airfield, however the digital twin was able to pinpoint where everything was.

From L-R: Kristoffer Plenge-Brandt, COO and SVP, Copenhagen Airports; Korijn Defever, GM Airport Intelligence, Airport Intelligence; Ramón Miró, President & CEO, Quito International Airport; Gerri Sinclair, Interim Vice President, Information Technology and CIO, Vancouver International Airport; Jason Inniss, Director of Airport Operations, Bermuda Skyport Corporation. Credit: IAR.

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