ACI Miami event addresses crucial issues

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The Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Business 2003 conference in Miami last week drew an audience of senior airport executives and duty-free operators, and focused on maximising non-aeronautical revenues in times of crisis.

The Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Business 2003 conference in Miami last week drew an audience of senior airport executives and duty-free operators, and focused on maximising non-aeronautical revenues in times of crisis. Among the speakers were well-known duty-free executives George Horan, general manager Dubai Duty Free, Nuance Group (Canada) ceo Roger Dunbar, Dufry Eurasia and Asia director retail operations Jan Baljet and senior vice-president Dufry America Jonathan Potash.

Event highlights included a keynote address from Miami International airport aviation director Angela Gittens, who argued that passenger figures would not regain pre-September 11 2001 levels until 2006. But she insisted: ?In today's environment, it is too risky to stay still; this is why we are investing heavily in improvements to the airport.? She added that improving revenue from catering and retail would ensure a better deal for airlines using the location, thus helping guarantee improvements to passenger numbers.

Other key speeches included a contribution from ACI North America president David Plavin, who warned airports to move with the times. He said that new risk-sharing initiatives between airports and airlines were needed, and suggested that traditional landing fees could become a thing of the past.

Also invited to speak were Dr Ian Cesa and Adele Wolstenhulme from Raven Fox Horizon Consumer Insight, the consumer research joint venture between Horizon Research and TRW publisher Raven Fox.

A full report will appear in DFNI later this year.