The International Transport Forum (ITF) was held on 23-25 May 2018 in Leipzig, Germany. Every year, the summit attracts Transport Ministers and industry CEOs and executives to discuss and debate on a variety of key transport issues. This year, focus was put on "Transport Safety and Security", including terrorism and cyber-security. These two topics constitute top priorities for aviation.
In addition to the official program where IATA's DG and CEO Alexander de Juniac participated as a speaker on the “Making Transport Systems Resilient” panel, the ITF also serves as a great opportunity for participants to engage in side meetings. This year, we took advantage of the Summit to meet with the German and Finnish delegations, and also with Poland’s, including Infrastructure Minister, Andrzej Adamczyk.
From left to right: Polish delegation interpreter; Andrzej Adamczyk, Poland’s Infrastructure Minister; Alexandre de Juniac, IATA DG and CEO; Rafael Schvartzman, IATA Regional Vice President Europe
During this meeting, the discussion revolved around two main projects of Polish aviation: the new central airport, and a National Airspace Strategy.
Central Communication Airport
Poland is heavily investing in infrastructure, and particularly in the construction of a new airport. The objective: a passenger-ready airport by 2027 with a capacity of 50 million passengers per year, before expanding later down the line to the grand total of 100 million passengers. De Juniac expressed his admiration for the scope of the scheme, but cautioned that cost discipline would be very important. He re-iterated IATA’s offer to help with this important project.
National Airspace Strategy
IATA is currently leading an initiative to unlock the Single European Sky. This 1999 European Union initiative was designed among other things to modernize the airspace and reduce congestion, delays and CO2 emissions. Unfortunately, results are not meeting expectations, sparking IATA to launch a bottom-up approach, working in parallel with member state governments and key stakeholders on the design and implementation of National Airspace Strategies (NAS). This is the case for Bulgaria, France, Italy, Poland, and Spain, with more countries to follow in the coming years. In the case of Poland, which was the first country to agree to develop a NAS, the collaboration is progressing well. Both the Minister and Rafael Schvartzman, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Europe, expressed their satisfaction with the work that PANSA (Polish Air Navigation Service Agency) and IATA are leading.
“This fruitful collaboration with PANSA, the Government and other key stakeholders such as LOT confirms that wherever there is a common will, there is a way to change and provide solutions to resolve what otherwise seems like a dead end situation,” said Schvartzman.
Minister Adamczyk and Mr. de Juniac agreed to meet in Poland in the coming months, well ahead of the 2019 ITF Summit where connectivity—another top priority for aviation—will be discussed.