Joe Bates looks back at some of the highlights of ACI Asia-Pacific’s Assembly in tropical Queensland.
As if the tropical Queensland setting wasn’t enough, some uniquely Down Under entertainment and, of course, plenty of lively debate and discussion all went to make the third ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly, Conference & Exhibition in Cairns a huge hit with delegates.
From a traditional Aboriginal welcome on the opening day of the conference to a closing ceremony featuring fire dancers and plain old-fashioned song and dance, the event once again demonstrated the diversity and dynamism of the Asia-Pacific region.
The theme of the event – hosted by Cairns Port Authority and held at Cairns Convention Centre – was ‘Building sustainable new growth markets for business and tourism’, ensuring that aviation’s need to limit its impact on the environment was very much the topic of the day. 
ACI chairman, James Cherry, claimed that it was time for airports to do a better job of publicising and promoting their often innovative environmental programmes to counter the popular misconceptions about the extent of aviation’s impact on the environment.
Said Cherry: “We don't seem to be doing a very good job of telling people about the many exciting and successful environmental initiatives taking place at airports in this region and across the globe. Aviation is on the right track, although there’s much to be done. Nevertheless, ACI firmly believes that our goal of accommodating growth in an environmentally sustainable framework is achievable.”
On the hot topic of emissions trading, Asia-Pacific president, Max Moore-Wilton, warned that the region should not blindly follow in the footsteps of the European Union. 
Noted Max: “I am always very sceptical of legislation that comes out of Europe as it based on an entirely different system to ours. We must develop our own solution as the European model will be based on a Continental system of short-haul routes and not long-haul services which typify the Asia-Pacific region.”
While Brisbane Airport’s managing director and CEO, Koen Rooijmans, pondered whether it was feasible for airports to actually use their runways to make energy. “It is clear that we need to do more as an industry and necessity is often the mother of invention,” he commented.
On the business side of things, four new members were elected to ACI Asia-Pacific’s regional board – Suning Liu (Macau International Airport), Kosaburo Morinaka (Narita International Airport Corporation), Atsushi Murayama (Kansai International Airport) and Han’an Zhang (HNA Airport Group). They directly replace Don Huse (Auckland), Katsuji Doi (Tokyo Haneda) and Larry Berg (Vancouver).
ACI Asia-Pacific also officially welcomed three new member airports – Rockhampton (Australia), Hyderabad (India) and Zhenghzou Xinzheng (China).
Next year’s Regional Assembly, Conference & Exhibition will be held in conjunction with ACI World and hosted by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) in Kuala Lumpur, November 2–5, 2009.
Asia-Pacific Airports 2008 Issue 2
