A major international airport investment conference will take place in Delhi next month.
Organised by Airports Council International (ACI) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the ‘Investing in Airports – Economic Oversight and Regulation Conference’ will gather global aviation stakeholders to discuss economic oversight and regulation in the airport industry.
While ACI and others have addressed these matters as session topics at conferences, this event marks the first time a full conference will be dedicated to regulatory issues, such as airport governance models and airport management practices.
There will also be a pre-conference workshop where regulatory framework will be discussed in small groups.
“Over the last three decades, there has been change in each of the variables defining the appropriate form of oversight. For example, competition among airports, both locally – multiple airport organisations in a metropolitan area – as well as internationally – gateway hubs competing for connecting traffic – has increased considerably. Legal frameworks, too, have changed, with privatisation and new types of public-private partnerships. Commercialisation of non-profit airports has also changed, requiring new sets of roles and responsibilities with management teams, airlines, other tenants and contractors,” said Angela Gittens, director general of ACI World.
“In the midst of these changes, ICAO and innovative state regulators have understood that their role needs to change as well. Oftentimes this has meant light-handed regulatory structures and facilitated negotiations on issues such as airport charges can replace state-imposed or heavy-handed regulation that exacts excessive costs on an increasingly cost-focused and competitive industry.
“ACI’s ‘Investing in Airports – Economic Oversight and Regulation Conference’ will also provide airport organisations, investors and regulators insights on how new forms of regulation and oversight will affect investors’ appetite for airports and what factors will determine the relative attractiveness of individual airports,” she added.
Speakers confirmed for the Delhi event include Ms Gittens, Dr Fang Liu, secretary general of ICAO, Amber Dubey, partner and head of aerospace & defence at KPMG India, Vinoop Goel, regional director of airport, passenger, cargo & security at IATA, Sidharath Kapur, CFO for Airports at GMR Group, and Nicolas Notebaert, chairman & CEO of Vinci Airports.
The Investing in Airports – Economic Oversight and Regulation Conference will take place in Delhi from 2-4 December 2015.
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