Thursday, December 8, 2011

Airport Argentina Show

Exceeding expectations by a wide margin, the first edition of Airport Show Argentina – 1st National Airports Congress, co-organised by the Association of Argentine Airport Management Professionals (ATEGA) and Reed Exhibitions Argentina drew to a close with big success.

The opening session, held to a packed house, was presided over by Transport Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi and Tourism Minister Carlos Meyer. Sharing the opening ceremony with them were Aerolíneas Argentinas CEO Mariano Recalde; Airports Authority (ORSNA) President and Vice-President Manuel Baladrón and Rafael Alonso, respectively; National Civil Aviation Administrator Alejandro Granados; Airport Security
Police head Salvador J. Postiglioni; ATEGA President Enrique Fabrizio as well as Reed Exhibitions Argentina Director-General Gabriel Pascual and Marketing & Operations Director Walter Ivitz.

Also at hand were Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 Legal Affairs and Institutional Affairs directors Gustavo Lupetti and Jorge Lukowsky, respectively. Lukowsky doubles as Vice-President of the Airports Council International – Latin America & the Caribbean (ACI-LAC). Horacio Iriarte and Felipe Baravalle, London Supply General Manager and Airports Division head, respectively, also joined for the opening session.

In his closing speech, Enrique Fabrizio expressed his full satisfaction for the results achieved by the congress, believing that “the development and the expectations generated by it have shown beyond doubt that Argentina can hold such an event, aimed for the whole world, in a professional fashion.” Fabrizio also explained that an event of the magnitude into which Airport Show Argentina – 1st National Airports
Congress grew had enabled its organisers “to create the necessary climate for players from all corners of the aviation & airports industry, from airport management professionals through product & service suppliers to airport management companies and it did it in a manner such that they would exchange ideas, do networking, increase their knowledge of the trade and discuss business trends to the benefit of airport
service quality and infrastructure.”

Fabrizio expressed deep gratitude for the institutional support from government bodies and sponsorship from national as well as international businesses, which combined with a strong attendance to enhance the professional setting for the various panels included in the congress schedule. The latter consisted of the following themes:

Institutional Organization of the Airport Sector | Airport Operations in the 21st Century | Argentina’s Airport Model | The Environmental Impact of Airport Activity | Airport Security | Operational Safety | New Proposals in Technology and Service | The Demand for Air Travel as a Factor of Development: The impact of airports.

Although a total of 700 registrations were received ahead of the event, the actual total number of attendees over the course of the two-day meeting rose to 800. As a result, the 300-seat layout in the La Pampa conference room of the Buenos Aires Sheraton Hotel & Convention Centre was boosted to nearly 400 seats for both the opening session as well as various panels.

Airport Show Argentina – 1st National Airports Congress was widely publicised among professional groups and the media – both at home and abroad. Thousands of aviation & airport professionals and the specialised media were regularly informed of progress in the event preparations. A number of professionals living abroad flew to Buenos Aires in order to take part in the congress – three of them ultimately were invited and formed a panel exclusively made up of executives coming from Australia, the US and the UK.

Judging by the strong feedback received thus far by the organisers, Airport Show Argentina – 1st National Airports Congress, ATEGA’s initiative (a dream harboured by the association from day one seven years ago) was a big success. Based on the results, the second edition of the congress appears firmly on course for its scheduled opening at the Hilton Buenos Aires on November 27-28. True to the original guidelines set out by ATEGA for Airport Show Argentina – 1st National Airports Congress and building on the strong interest expressed by various stakeholders in the air transport industry, the 2nd National Airports Congress will also include an aeronautical as well as airport product, technology & services exhibition.

Notes to editors:


On ATEGA
The Association of Argentine Airport Management Professionals – ATEGA – represents the common interest of airport management technicians and related staff. ATEGA’s raison d'être is the preservation of the ethical, professional as well as material well-being aspects of airport & aerodrome administrators, regulators and management professionals, the continuous advancement of their training standards and job protection. Over the last year, ATEGA has continued to increase its institutional relations with other institutions, intermediate entities, trade unions, inland airport management offices and airport lease operators among other public and private bodies.

On Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading event organizer, with more than 460 events in 44 key areas of diverse markets, also including the aviation sector, in its portfolio. In 2010, exhibitions organized by Reed Exhibitions organized in 36 countries in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia drew more than seven million professional attendees.

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