148th Slot Conference

Patricia Carmona holds a Degree in Law by Alcalá de Henares University, Spain, and a Master in International Business Management. She works in the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) since October 2015, currently as Senior Specialist in the Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness Department in the areas of policy and governance, tourism competitiveness, destination management and rural development and tourism. Patricia Carmona has more than 15 years of professional experience and worked as Senior Consultant in ICEX Spain Trade and Investment during 7 years and as Trade and Investments Specialist in the Economic and Commercial Office of the Spanish Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2005. In 2008 she worked as Foreign Trade Specialist in AMETIC, the Spanish national association which represents the ICT and digital technology industry in Spain. Between 2006-2008 she worked as International Consultant in the Legal Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). She is Spanish national and speaks fluently Spanish, English, French and Italian.

Anthony Chan is Manager, Network Planning for HK Express, the only low-cost carrier based in Hong Kong. Anthony was part of a small team that saw the growth of the airline in one of the busiest hubs in the world from 5 aircraft at launch to its current fleet of 27 aircraft; serving 25 destinations in Asia. Anthony and his team look after everything from short-term in-season scheduling to long-term network development plans. Anthony is a believer of iterative and incremental development; he is also an advocate of nurturing better collaboration between stakeholders by means of more effective communication; a mentality that he applies both in his daily work and in IATA's Slot Policy Working Group

Tim is currently Assistant Director, Member and External Relations for IATA based in Geneva, Switzerland. He is responsible for policy analysis and development and working with member airlines, and other stakeholders to articulate and advocate industry positions to governments and regulators.  He leads IATA’s work on unruly passengers, human trafficking, and the promotion of international air law treaties and oversees the safely reopening borders advocacy campaign in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to joining Member and External Relations, Tim served as IATA Area Manager Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos based in Bangkok and before this he was Country Manager Gulf Area (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE) responsible for all aspects of IATA’s local operations and activities. Before joining IATA Tim was a General Manager for a global ground handling services provider, with responsibility for teams of up to 400 employees.

Tim holds a Master’s in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University, UK

David leads Oxford Economics’ Tourism Economics division in EMEA and his team produces forecasts and alternative scenario analysis for worldwide tourism and aviation flows. This includes the joint air passenger forecast database in collaboration with IATA; the global tourism database covering 185 countries; and the global city travel database of 309 cities. David regularly presents the economic and tourism outlook to client groups and conferences, including a recent focus on alternative forecasts of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Recent analysis has considered the implications of changing policies and actions by governments and business as well as the implications for traveller preferences.

With a wealth of experience across the global aviation industry, John provides expert commentary on market developments for OAG, making connections between what the data is telling us and the trends and events occurring in the sector.

Sebastian is the Senior Vice President for Member and External Relations at the International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA’s mission is to represent, lead and serve the airline industry. It represents some 290 airlines, which account for 82% of global air traffic.  He is responsible for guiding and implementing IATA’s strategic advocacy and stakeholder relationship activities worldwide. He engages extensively with government and UN bodies, particularly the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and often coordinates and leads negotiations on behalf of the airline industry.

Sebastian Mikosz is the former Group Managing Director and CEO of Kenya Airways. He held this position for almost three years between June 2017 until the end of 2019. During the same period, he was a Non-Executive Board Member of two Kenya Airways subsidiaries, the regional operator Jambojet and the Tanzanian operator Precision Air; and the Chairman of the Board of the cargo company KAHL. Sebastian was also a member of the IATA Board of Governors.

Rikke Munk Christensen is Virgin Atlantic’s Vice President of Networks, Alliances and Commercial Planning. Rikke has been with Virgin Atlantic since September 2019, and leads on Virgin Atlantic’s network strategy, route planning, slot portfolio, partnerships and JV. Rikke has more than 15 years of network planning expertise, across four different airlines – including experience in low cost, regional and full network carriers. Rikke is also chair of International Air Transport Association (IATA) Slot Policy Working Group and member of Worldwide Slot Board. Rikke is originally from Denmark and lives now in London, she loves sports, good food and travel.

Alan has been working in the field of aviation and transportation for 25 years, having worked for international organisations such as TNT and IATA.  Since joining IATA in 2005 he has worked with many of the world’s leading airlines, both full service and LCC’s to help them deliver an exceptional passenger experience during check-in and at the airport.  As part of this Alan pioneered the Timatic AutoCheck travel document service which is a critical enabler for web, app and kiosk check-in.  In 2019 over 700m international passenger were processed using Timatic AutoCheck.  In his current role as Head of Airport, Passenger and Security solutions Alan in leading the IATA Travel Pass initiative to enable airline to manage passenger COVID compliance which is considered critical for the aviation industry restart.

I have worked in aviation for over 20 years in various commercial, network, strategy and analytics roles for not only airlines, but a several service providers. I also spent five years working as a coordination manager for ACL leading the coordination for LGW. I have been a member of the WASB since it’s inception, and on SPWG for the past three years.

Alyson has been with Heathrow for more than 10 years and is now Head of Aviation Business Development encompassing strategy, planning, network development and engagement. Prior to this, she spent 6 years with British Airways as Director of Global Partnerships. Alyson has also held senior positions with travel technology, hotel and travel companies.

My name is Petra Popovac, and I am the CEO of ACA. ACA provides slot coordination and associated services to 38 airports in 5 countries and has offices based in Australia and Ireland.

I started at ACA 16 years ago as a coordinator and have had the opportunity to work in many different capacities both in the company and in the slot community. During my time at ACA, as well as conducting slot coordination and consulting services, I have been a part of the team that delivers slot training in conjunction with IATA, as well as participation in many industry groups including SISC, JSAG and APACA.

I am currently the Chair of APACA and the Vice Chair of the WWACG. I am very honored to be a member of the WASB board especially at this very important time for the industry.

Linda is Assistant Director External Affairs in IATA Geneva. In her role, she promotes the development of consistent policy and multilateral dialogue by working with policymakers, member airlines, and industry stakeholders.  Linda leads IATA’s work on accessibility for passengers with disabilities and the aging population and oversees the advocacy campaign to promote restart of travel and tourism in countries that are open for business, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before joining IATA, Linda held various operational and commercial responsibilities in the maritime industry with Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), included overseeing agent activities and vessel allocations in major countries.

Linda holds an Executive Master Diploma in International Negotiation and Policy-Making with the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva.

Steve Rowe is Head of Scheduling and Publication at Air New Zealand. Steve has been in the Aviation Industry for over 15 years and has been with Air New Zealand for 8 years, responsible for scheduling both the domestic and international network. Steve is a member of the Slot Policy Working Group. 

Jennifer Sayre is responsible for managing Delta Air Lines global slot portfolio ensuring schedule compliance and monitoring slot utilization requirements.  This includes working with industry associations, governments, airports and coordinators to ensure slot policy and processes are workable, consistent and an efficient solution to insufficient airport infrastructure. She is a member of the Worldwide Airport Slot Board and Slot Policy Working Group.