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6 June 2012 | By Frank O’Connell, President of the European Travel Retail Council (ETRC)
In 2010, the global duty-free and travel retail market recorded net sales of $39 billion1 despite the aviation sector being hit by the economic crisis. Having such a vibrant retail sector while many of the economic indicators are at half-mast should be a source of positivity. Commercial activity is, and…
6 June 2012 | By Günther Mätschnigg, IATA Senior Vice President, Safety, Operations and Infrastructure
Although the role of ground handling is fundamental to safe and reliable airline operations, historically it has not received as much attention as other areas of the business that directly influence revenues and costs. This may be owing to a number of factors. When airlines did everything in-house, the need…
6 June 2012 | By Dan Meincke, Director of Traffic and Airside Operations, Copenhagen Airport
The date was 23 December 2010. Copenhagen Airport (CPH) had prepared for the peak travel day of the Christmas season with 70,000 excited passengers ready to pass through its terminals. We were all ready and had successfully managed to handle traffic, despite several weeks of snow. What we did not…
1 June 2012 | By Norman Shanks, Professor in Aviation Security, Coventry University
One of the universal truths about modern air travel is that nobody likes the passenger pre-board screening process. Whilst pass - engers questioned immediately after a successful or foiled terrorist attack will readily say that they accept the pre-board screening process as it is there to ensure their safety, opinion…
1 June 2012 | By Mr Nutt, Vice President, Aviation Safety, Airports of Thailand
The risks of Foreign Object Debris (FOD) have been well documented, both within the industry and the main stream media. The tragic events of Air France flight 4590, when Concorde crashed at Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport, was caused by a piece of debris on the runway – a titanium…
1 June 2012 | By John Atkins, Airport City Director, Manchester Airports Group
Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Manchester in northern England, is recognised as the world’s first industrialised city, and at the turn of the 18th century outstripped even London as the largest centre for manufacturing, not just in the UK, but throughout the world. Today, a post-industrialised Manchester is notable for…
1 June 2012 | By Tim Hawkins, Planning and Regulatory Director, London Stansted Airport
London Stansted Airport is delighted to be an official provider to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and is very proud to be one of the first to say ‘hello’ to the thousands of visitors and spectators arriving in the United Kingdom. The Games are a unique and amazing…
1 June 2012 | By Mark Glover, Commissioning Editor, International Airport Review
Gatwick Airport is undergoing a major refurbishment that is set to improve the passenger experience and encourage airlines to use its facilities. Mark Glover from International Airport Review spoke to Angus McIntyre, Airline Business Development Manager at Gatwick to talk about the plans to compete with London’s ‘other’ airport and…
1 June 2012 | By Phil Brown, Executive Director of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority
When 50 million visitors are attracted to your city in a single year, you had better be prepared to exceed expecta - tions. As the number one family-friendly destination in the United States, Orlando’s first impression and last impression are often made by the one place that connects travellers to…
29 March 2012 | By Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of the British Airline Pilots’ Association (BALPA)
The safe operation of airports, of aviation generally, relies on many factors. As has been said before, you only need one link in the safety chain to fail to bring about potential disaster in this potentially dangerous business. Pilots play one of the most vital parts in that safety chain,…
29 March 2012 | By Prof. Dr. Rainer Schwarz, CEO of Berlin Brandenburg Airport
Berlin Brandenburg Airport starts operating on 3 June 2012. The new airport will be Berlin’s new gateway to the world. It is a next-generation hub airport with a strong focus on European traffic as a feeder for long-haul connections. Following the start of construction work in September 2006, we officially…
29 March 2012 | By Mark Glover, Commissioning Editor, International Airport Review
Located in the suburb of Mascot, Sydney, Australia’s busiest airport, served over 26 million passengers in 2010 and is a primary hub for the country’s major airline Qantas and a secondary hub for Virgin Australia and Jetstar Airways...
29 March 2012 | By Mark Glover, Commissioning Editor, International Airport Review
The Ukraine and Poland will be jointhosting the European Football Championships in June, creating a range of operational challenges on the countries’ airport infrastructures. Mark Glover, from International Airport Review spoke to Rafal Marczewski, the National Airport Controller of Poland and the Polish State Enterprise’s Representative for UEFA EURO 2012,…
29 March 2012 | By Mark Glover, Commissioning Editor, International Airport Review
London will be hosting the 2012 Olympic Games this summer, an event that will have the eyes of the world focused on England’s capital city. For many, Heathrow Airport will be the gate to the event with spectators and athletes passing through one of the world’s busiest airports. Mark Glover,…
29 March 2012 | By Michael Rumpf, Senior Project Consultant, Baggage Operations at Munich Airport Consulting
Handling the traffic of an Olympic Games is a challenge for airports. Not only the volume but also the nature and the special needs of Olympic passengers pose problems for airports and call for special operational procedures to be set up. Having had experience of overseeing the baggage of teams…
Chief Executive Officer
Delhi International Airport Limited
Videh Kumar Jaipuriar has been nominated for his exemplary leadership in managing and navigating Delhi International Airport (DEL) during the COVID-19 pandemic. He led multiple initiatives to ensure business continuity at DEL, which included passenger safety and convenience, stakeholder management, cash conservation, adoption of new technologies, and care for environment and employee safety.
He proactively engaged with the government stakeholders and supported them in safeguarding aviation through strong confidence building measures for travellers, such as developing several indigenous technology solutions like air circulation with six changes per hour and a combination of UV and plasma disinfection systems to provide safest journey experience to their passengers. Under his leadership, DEL has been forefront of implementing safety measures which was later adopted across the country.
Despite lockdown, Jaipuriar ensured that DEL was operational for rescue missions, medical evacuations, and transporting medical essentials to various parts of the country. He further led the Vande Bharat Mission flights of Government of India (a rescue mission to get Indians back to India), as well as rescue flights by other international governments. His outstanding leadership across all areas across the stakeholders in the aviation ecosystem and going beyond the call of duty in managing and navigating this crisis for a national capital airport having national importance makes him the apt choice for the Person of the Year Award.
CEO
Hajj and Umrah Airport – Jeddah – KSA
Adnan Saggaf continues to demonstrate strong leadership skills throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and brought out of the box ideas in attracting traffic and to support his team during this difficult time. With new innovative ideas in balancing cash flow, the facilities were kept maintained and the personal were kept employed.
Saggaf has protected the financial stability of his staff income, ensured valuable cost cutting management, shown excellent performance of crisis management, and exceptional negotiation skills shown with authority regarding agreement restructuring and receivable payments.
To handle the loss of Umrah traffic to the airport, Saggaf chose to attract new airlines, mainly LCCs, to use the terminal with attractive offers and more reliable services. He built a new strategy by diversifying the airport offers. He prepared the facilities by deploying new technology and working on enhancing passenger experience. Saggaf also initiated a capacity building programme for the airside team by drafting SOPS, training and coaching, as well as initiating dedicated workshops to discuss ideas and to deploy new initiatives.
Leaders show strength in difficult times, and this is exactly what Saggaf showed and why he deserves to be awarded as the Person of the year 2021.
Chief Operating Officer
Sangster International Airport Jamaica
Peter has been with the Sangster International Airport for over 25 years.
He has experience in customer service, operations and now oversees the security function and is also the Chief Operations Officer.
Peter has been instrumental in co-ordinating the preparation and implementation of a COVID-19 response plan for not just MBJ, but to guide the operation of all agencies operating on airport. The aim of this plan was to ensure a safe environment for staff and the travelling public; therefore, this plan was instrumental to establish consumer/travellers/public confidence and provided information and guidelines on the new protocols implemented at the airport.
Peter is well known for his expertise in investigation and aviation security. His co-operation with law enforcement stakeholders has been unrelenting in assuring the security of the airport and stakeholders alike.
While Peter is known as a firm individual that displays the outmost professionalism and integrity, he operates on the basis of equity and fairness in all matters relating to staff, clients, passengers and the general public.
Head of Operations, Safety and Emergency
Belo Horizonte International Airport
Robson Freitas has developed and led the BH Airport plan for the resumption of airport operations post-COVID-19, as well as being responsible for leading the group of Directors and Managers at the airport, defining the three main pillars of recovery: Health and Safety of People, Institutional and Integrated Communication and Institutional Partners. These central pillars include ensuring hygiene and health and social distances measures for passengers, users, and the airport community, in addition to participating in strategic committees involving the public sectors to comply with regulatory rules. Freitas developed the COVID guardians programme, who were responsible in monitoring and following up on the measures already implemented for COVID-19 and advising users, employees and other people on compliance with distancing, hygiene and health measures recommended by health authorities. He also developed a COVID booklet with information and guidance for the airport community regarding good hygiene and health practices and led the beginning of the publication of a monthly newsletter with passenger curve information, allowing the planning of reopening and rehiring by commercial stores. Freitas also supported the reduction of OPEX by planning the temporary closure of areas, toilets and equipment in common use and internalising some activities.
Chief Strategy Development Officer
Bangalore International Airport Limited
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Raghunath worked closely with all the aero concessionaires and cargo operators to minimise disruption and provide financial relief to them. The airline marketing team helped launch a historic first route to the U.S. West Coast and the cargo team at BIAL also achieved record numbers over this period, with the airport becoming India’s leading airport for the export of perishables. Despite the impact of COVID-19, Raghunath has led a digital transformation and expansion at BIAL airport, with new initiatives and the deployment of the fully biometric-based self-boarding solution for seamless passenger flow and travel experiences and a process automation and analytics platform. These initiatives amongst many others, meant that the airport won ACI World’s ‘Voice of the Customer’ initiative, which recognised BIAL airports efforts to prioritise their customers during COVID-19. Raghunath has remained a staunch and resilient leader during such an uncertain time and is very much appreciated by his team.
Head of Operations
Cairns Airport
As Head of Operations, Alicia Prince has played a critical role in leading and navigating Cairns Airport through the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, Prince implemented a functional plan to ensure business continuity and staff welfare, segregating front-line operational staff into work teams to avoid interaction between groups, as well as strict sanitisation processes. She ensured that the $55 million domestic Terminal upgrade continued safely despite the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis.
She also deployed the COVIDSafe Operation Plan for Cairns Airport, which was endorsed and later commended by Queensland Chief Health Officer. As part of this plan Alicia developed an airport layout to provide physical separation of low risk and high-risk arrivals and initiated increased hygiene and sanitisation protocols. The health and safety of the airport community was paramount to maintaining operations, and in response to this Alicia initiated a COVIDSafe training program for the entire airport community and worked closely with her team to deliver.
As a result of the great work Prince has done to ensure COVID-19 best practices, Cairns Airport was one of the first Australian Airports to be awarded an ACI Global Health Accreditation.
Alicia also led the terminal optimisation project, which assessed and implemented terminal downscales due to the crisis. Significant savings (both financial and environmental) were achieved by reducing the operational footprint of the airport.
Whilst maintaining operations throughout the pandemic was a priority, Alicia ensured her team were kept well informed and engaged. Cairns Airport has a team of 33 volunteers which form part of Alicia’s wider team. To ensure they remained connected and cared for, Alicia and her team created care packages including home-made cakes and personally delivered to each of the volunteers’ houses in a COVIDSafe manner. Alicia demonstrated great leadership throughout the pandemic and continues to do so today. Her clear and transparent communication and collaboration with other Australian Airports and key agencies to ensure best practice and alignment contributed greatly to business continuity. Furthermore, all the above was managed whilst working remotely and juggling home schooling with her two young boys.
Airport General Manager
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Balram Bheodari leads Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as North America’s most efficient airport, due to his vast knowledge of and astute attention to efficiency in aviation, which has allowed the airport to thrive in the most difficult of markets. Bheodari combines operational expertise, integrity, and selflessness to provide a quality of leadership throughout Atlanta Airport. He oversees all facets of airport governance, including operations and a multi-billion-dollar capital improvement programme, ATLNext, designed to pave the way for Atlanta’s growth over the next 20 years. During COVID-19, Bheodari developed a comprehensive resumption of operations playbook that served to support ATL’s recovery efforts. With guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) amid evolving health and safety guidelines, Bheodari steadfastly encouraged collaboration among stakeholders, team-building among aviation employees, and adaptability in uncertain times. Throughout the pandemic, he participated in daily calls with Airports Council International and other large-hub airports to share best practices as well as information from Washington, D.C. federal offices and the CDC.
He aimed to restore customer confidence and ensure the airport was a healthy facility using COVID-19 safe protocols. Since, the airport achieved Airport of the Year by the Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC).
During the height of the pandemic, Bheodari was the most ardent supporter of our mission-critical employees. Having worked his way up through the ranks, he fully appreciates the oftentimes thankless jobs these employees perform that keep the Airport safe and running optimally at all times. Morale never flagged because Bheodari made sure those employees felt valued through hazard pay, special meals, social media posts, intranet spotlight features, and other incentives.
His actions and his directives all reflect his commitment to the three key focus areas of our organisation’s strategic plan: people, purpose and performance.
CEO
Swedavia Airports
Jonas Abrahamsson has shown the strength to steer the company towards its long-term sustainable goals, despite the challenges of COVID-19. Abrahamsson has ensured that Swedavia achieved its net zero target for all ten of the airports in 2020 and has continued to support strategic development and innovation to further the cause of sustainable air travel. During 2020, when passenger numbers where down over 90 per cent and a lot of investments were paused, he decided that investments in the company’s net zero target should proceed, allowing Swedavia to become the first net zero airport group by the end of 2020.
Chief Executive Officer
Budapest Airport
Chris Dinsdale has worked at Budapest Airport since 2015, originally as CFO until March 2021, where he was nominated for the position as CEO. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dinsdale, as CFO of the airport at the time, fought relentlessly to make sure that the company survived the crisis and worked with great commitment to secure the funding of the airport. For example, a voluntary salary cut for the executives and the founding of the Budapest Airport Foundation, which supports blue collar workers who lost their job during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After being nominated to CEO position in March 2021, Dinsdale continues to work closely with the executive team to create a clear COVID-19 recovery strategy for Budapest Airport. This will also mean that we come out stronger of the pandemic and have a clear focus. Dinsdale is an inspiring true leader who helped us all to cope with the very difficult times of the pandemic and I am convinced that he truly deserves this award.
