CAPA Airlines in Transition 2016

	Mr Hugh Aitken Director of Business Development Skyscanner for Business Hugh is director of business development and commercial operations for Skyscanner for Business, an independent unit within Skyscanner, offering a customizable suite of tools designed to power the travel internet. Hugh leads the commercial team, spanning EMEA, the Americas and Asia Pacific, responsible for forging strategic relationships with partners across the travel industry and beyond. Under his guidance over 400 partners are now powered by Skyscanner for Business through the White Label and API products. Additionally, Hugh has taken to market a range of unique analytical tools which provide partners with a unique insight into travel demand and trends. Hugh has previously spoken at ITB Asia and World Routes 2015. Prior to joining Skyscanner, Hugh spent 4 years at the European low cost airline, EasyJet, where he looked after the commercial performance and market strategy for the airline across London, Scotland, the North East of England, as well as the Middle East and Iceland. Prior to that role, Hugh spent thirteen years at UK airport operator, BAA, where he held a number of senior commercial and business development roles.

	Riccardo Boin Associate Partner McKinsey & Company Riccardo co-leads McKinsey's Travel, Transport & Logistics Practice in Southern Europe and the Pricing & Revenue Management Service Line globally. In his 8 years at McKinsey Riccardo has served multiple airlines in Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa, primarily in strategic and commercial transformations. Riccardo holds a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia Business School (New York, USA) and a Master of Science in Accounting & Corporate Finance from Università Bocconi (Milan, Italy)

	Mr John Byerly Consultant John R. Byerly, Consultant John Byerly advises clients on the full range of international aviation issues, including negotiations, economic and environmental regulation, aviation safety and security, government relations, and strategic planning. John graduated with highest honors from the University of North Carolina, studied European and German law on a Fulbright Scholarship in Berlin, and received his JD from Yale in 1979. Upon graduation, he joined the State Department, serving thirty-one years in positions addressing American foreign policy, national security, and international economic relations. For almost a decade (2001-2010), John was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for market-opening air transport agreements with over 70 countries and led U.S. delegations in talks that secured Open Skies with Germany, France, the European Union, and Japan. He was active in the economic, legal, and environmental work of ICAO and helped implement the U.S. response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

	Mr Pat Byrne Chairman CityJet In February 2015, Pat returned to Cityjet, the regional airline he had founded back in 1993 and which is now independent of Air France, to take up the full time role of Executive Chairman and CEO. He is very focused on leading a major transformation of the regional carrier to become a leading niche operator in Europe in the provision of wet lease capacity to operate extensive route networks for major carriers while also developing its own brand network into London City Airport, where it is the second largest operator in terms of slots operated. In the past 12 months Cityjet management has overseen the winning of an extensive wet lease contract with SAS, acquired the SAS subsidiary Blue1, ordered a fleet of new CRJ 900’s from Bombardier (for the SAS programme) and also committed to the Superjet SSJ 100 as the fleet replacement for the airline’s Avro RJ’s. Cityjet will take delivery of 8 new Bombardier CRJ 900’s between March and June of this year and the first 2 of its firm order for 15 Superjet SSJ 100’s in May. Cityjet also has options on 6 additional CRJ 900’s and 16 SSJ 100’s.

	Paul Byrne CEO flynas Paul Byrne is the CEO of flynas, a position he took up in November 2014 following a three month term as Commercial Advisor to the airline. With a career spanning more than 35 years in the aviation industry, starting with Aer Lingus in 1979, Paul brings a wealth of wide-ranging experience to flynas, focused mainly on private consultancy in both the emerging low cost and full service airline sectors. Prior to acting as Commercial Advisor to flynas, Paul undertook short training assignments in Jeju Air Seoul South Korea and Precision Air in Tanzania. Before that he worked with the RM Team at Pegasus Airlines in Istanbul, Turkey, where through the use of a more analytical approach the team is now delivering increased revenues and consistently excellent results. Previously Paul completed two terms working with Airphil Express (now PAL) in Manila, Philippines, where the focus is on delivering stronger more sustainable results. His contribution to Airphil’s success led to enhanced and more professional RM practices in the current Philippines Airlines (PAL). From April 2010 to May 2011, Paulworked as coach to the newly installed RM team at VIVA Aerobus in Monterrey, Mexico, achieving record levels of sales and yield. In this period there was also a brief training assignment with Webjet of Brazil to enable the RM team make the transition to the LCC model. Other assignments include Aero Contractors of Nigeria, where from March 2009 to April 2010 he led a team that developed revenue management, online sales, ancillary sales and onboard sales. From June to December 2007, Paul worked with Mandala Airlines in Jakarta Indonesia and prior to that with Air Deccan where the company went from 3% to 22% market share of the Domestic India market and ultimate takeover by Kingfisher Airlines. At the start of his aviation career with Aer Lingus, Paul held a large number of roles ranging from the cargo and passenger revenue accounts departments to interline billing and revenue management departments. Educated at Chanel College, Coolock, Dubin, Ireland, Paul holds an MBA from the Open University. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Independent Business International (IIBI) and was its first Chairman in Ireland

	Mr Albert Muntané Casanova Director Business Development & Strategy Air Europa Express Albert is an inherently curious person, and has spent over 15 years in international and multinational environments. After gathering some years of experience in sales, marketing, consulting and project management, he joined the airline industry in 2005, where he held a number of roles in route management and revenue management and has been a member of cross-functional teams. In 2011 he joined Air Europa as Head of Network with special focus in Network Development, and in this function he has been deeply involved in the transformation of Air Europa’s business model. Albert holds a degree in Business Administration and is particularly interested in behavioral economics. In his free time, Albert does not play golf.

	Mr Richard Castle Regional Director, Strategic Clients Sabre Airline Solutions In November 2013, Richard Castle was appointed Regional Director for Europe, Strategic Clients. Richard joined Sabre as Account Director, responsible for customers in the UK, in August 2005. In the following years, he expanded his portfolio to include customers across Europe. From 2011 until 2013, he was Regional Director for Russia and CIS. For 15 years prior, he worked for Swissair/Swiss International Air Lines in a variety of managerial positions in various locations around the world. His last role at SWISS was Vice President, e commerce & Sales Distribution, based at the head office in Zurich. Before that, he was Swiss International Air Lines’ General Manager for UK & Scandinavia (2002 – 2004). He built the 75 strong Sales & Marketing team from scratch after the collapse of Swissair, leading Corporate and Leisure Sales teams, Market Communication, Pricing and Revenue Management. At Swissair, Richard’s roles included Marketing Manager, UK & Ireland based in London, General Manager Arabian Gulf based in Dubai, and Sales & Marketing Manager for North Africa, Middle East and India, based in Brussels. Richard has degree from Durham University in the UK.

	Mr Zhihang Chi Vice President and General Manager North America Air China As Vice President and General Manager for North America, Dr. Zhihang Chi manages all aspects of Air China’s business in the region from the company’s headquarters in Los Angeles. He manages more than 175 US-based Air China employees and oversees the marketing and operations for the rapidly growing passenger flights between North America and China. Dr. Chi’s extensive airline industry experience and his visionary leadership and passion in promoting a closer, mutually beneficial Sino-American relationship are credited for Air China’s expansion and steady growth in North America, even during the severe economic downturn that adversely affected the travel industry. He is a much-sought after speaker on topics ranging from US-China relations to trade, tourism and aviation. His incisive analysis and understanding of issues affecting the United States/China and the travel industry, coupled with his exceptional ability to articulate scholarly ideas into easily comprehensible language, makes him a top choice for TV and print journalists seeking an informed opinion on these matters. His keynote speech on US-China bilateral relations delivered at a Town Hall Los Angeles event in Nov. 2014 is featured in the March 2015 issue of Vital Speeches of the Day. Also featured in the same issue are speeches delivered on various high-profile world forums by President Barack Obama, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, US Senator Joni Ernst, President Joachim Gauck of Germany and United Kingdom’s Minister of Parliament, the Hon. Jon Cruddas. Dr. Chi is a recipient of the prestigious China Business Leadership Award from the US-China Policy Foundation. Each year the non-profit, non-partisan, non-advocacy Washington, D.C.-based organization honors individuals who have made valuable contributions for the promotion of greater understanding between American and Chinese policymakers and government officials. As a result of Dr. Chi’s determined efforts and commitment to maximize and utilize every available resource in enhancing the local economy while at the same time increasing Air China’s marketing competitiveness and penetration—international travelers –especially business passengers between Los Angeles and Beijing, have more options with Air China’s double daily service between Los Angeles and Beijing. A third service for this route will be added at four times weekly on May 2, 2015. This will increase to daily service on July 1, 2015. Air China continues its historic expansion in North America under the leadership of Dr. Chi. The Houston (IAH)-Beijing service that was launched on July 11, 2013 made Houston the first destination Air China added in North America in more than three decades. Less than a year after its launch, Air China made an unprecedented move of expanding this nonstop service from four times a week to daily on March 30, 2014. Only a day later, the frequency of Air China’s nonstop New York (JFK)-Beijing service was increased to double daily. Air China’s Capital-to-Capital service, linking Washington, DC and Beijing, China’s capital, was launched on June 10, 2014. The U.S. capital is Air China’s seventh gateway in North America. In January 2014, Air China inaugurated its nonstop service between Honolulu and Beijing. Air China is the only airline with nonstop services between Los Angeles, New York, Houston and Beijing. Dr. Chi’s experience, training and educational background have prepared him well for the challenges of his position as the head of Air China in North America. He had worked in a number of increasingly responsible positions for Northwest Airlines from 1994-2003. During his years at Northwest, he developed and managed a number of strategic alliances with other international airlines, especially with the Chinese carriers. He joined Air China in 2004 and has led the company’s unprecedented growth and significant investments in and contribution to the local and state economies of the cities serviced by Air China. Prior to his promotion to Vice President for North America, Dr. Chi was General Manager for Western USA for two years until November 2006. He was responsible for Air China’s Los Angeles operations before this. Dr. Chi’s zealous advocacy of U.S. visa liberalization for Chinese visitors has made him a familiar figure to senior leaders of the US Congress, State Department and the US Homeland Security—all of whom he has personally met. He is an impassioned proponent of a closer US-China relations and a bilateral exchange based on mutual trust. Fluent in English and Chinese, Dr. Chi’s background makes him uniquely qualified to speak on China and US-China exchange in the fields of diplomacy, trade and culture. He is adept at and has a proven record of narrowing and bridging together the cultural divide between China and the USA A naturalized US citizen, Dr. Chi was born in China. He earned his doctorate and master’s degrees from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). As well, he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from one of the world’s leading institutions of learning, the Peking University in Beijing.

	Professor Rigas Doganis Chairman European Aviation Club Prof. Rigas Doganis has acted as aviation consultant and strategy adviser to numerous airlines, airports, banks and governments around the world. He is currently a non-executive director of easyJet, Europe’s second largest low-cost airline, and was previously a non-executive director of South African Airways. He sits on the Board of Hyderabad Airport in India and is Chairman of the European Aviation Club in Brussels. Prof. Doganis served as Chairman and CEO of Olympic Airways in Athens from Feb-1995 to Apr-1996 and successfully implemented a major restructuring programme which produced Olympic’s first profit in 18 years. He set up and headed the Department of Air Transport at Cranfield University (UK) from 1991 until 1997 and established it as the pre-eminent academic centre in Europe for post-graduate teaching and research in air transport. He is now a Visiting Professor at Cranfield. From 1976 until 1992 he was Visiting Professor in Airline Management at the Asian School of Management in Manila. Prof. Doganis has acted as aviation consultant and strategy adviser to numerous airlines, airports, banks and governments around the world. He was until recently a non-executive director of easyJet, Europe’s second largest low-cost airline, and was previously a non-executive director of South African Airways and of Hyderabad Airport in India .He is Chairman of the European Aviation Club in Brussels.

	Kristian Gjerding CEO CellPoint Mobile As Chief Executive Officer of CellPoint Mobile, Kristian Gjerding leads the mobile payments firm as it helps airlines around the world deploy optimal payments solutions and manage the payments ecosystem's shift to the mobile environment. For more than a decade, Gjerding has helped shape the payments ecosystem by helping global airline, payments and trade organizations establish best practices and standards around NFC communications, mobile payments and remote payments, including advisory roles with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Mobey Forum, National Retail Federation and others. Before joining CellPoint Mobile, Gjerding served in senior executive roles covering technology, wireless and mobile payments solutions at StorageTek, Sun Microsystems, Amdahl, Network Appliance and OIS. He is based in CellPoint Mobile's Copenhagen office.

	Christian Haenen European Government Affairs & Policy Leader - Aviation GE Global Growth Organization Chris is an executive at GE in Brussels where he supports GE Aviation with governmental affairs towards the EU institutions, but also locally in the Member States. He represents GE Aviation on legislative and regulatory developments in Europe as well as on collaborative R&D programs like Clean Sky. Next to innovation policies, other areas of relevance are sustainability (emissions) and digitization (industrial internet). Lastly, he supports the business in Europe on large scale investment projects. Prior to joining GE in 2011, Chris worked for 15 years in the Big 4 consultancies focusing on innovation strategies for large corporations and evaluated the effectiveness of government policies. Chris is a regular speaker and writer in the area of innovation and competitiveness related policies. Chris has a Master degree in International Law from Leiden University the Netherlands as well as an MBA.

	John Hanlon Secretary General ELFAA John joined British Airways in 1968 as a graduate trainee and spent 30 years in overseas Regional General Management positions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. His last position with British Airways was as General Manager Africa and the Indian Ocean, based in Johannesburg. Awarded OBE in 1993 for services to British aviation interests in Nigeria. Joined Flybe in 2000, becoming Director Alliances. In June 2006 appointed Secretary General of ELFAA – European Low Fares Airline Association, having previously chaired the Airspace Work Group within ELFAA. ELFAA member airlines carry over 223 million passengers a year, operating a combined fleet of some 000 of the most environmentally-efficient aircraft. Low Fares account for over 50% of point-to-point intra-European traffic, a share forecast to grow to 60% by 2020.

	Vincent Harrison Managing Director Dublin Airport Vincent Harrison was appointed Managing Director of Dublin Airport in January 2014. Prior to this he was Director Strategy, Regulation & B2B and has also held senior finance positions with Irish airports group, daa plc. Vincent has served as a member of the policy committee of ACI Europe, the representative body for European airports, and on the Council of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation. He has previously held senior financial and management positions with Esat/BT in Ireland and with Rubbermaid Inc. in USA and in Europe. He has also worked as an independent management consultant. Vincent trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen in Dublin. He holds an MBA degree from University of Pittsburgh, USA and a B.Comm degree from University College Cork and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.

	Peter Hill Chairman & CEO TAAG In 1961 Peter Hill joined BOAC (now British Airways) as a Commercial Trainee and embarked upon a career in Aviation that would take him to all four corners of the world. He’s played a significant role in the growth and development of Gulf Air, DNATA, Emirates, SriLankan Airlines, Flydubai and Oman Air. A founder member of the small management team that launched Emirates in 1985 and it’s first Commercial Manager, he went on to becoming the CEO of both SriLankan Airlines and Oman Air. During his more than 50 years in airline management he’s faced most of the challenges that our industry has to offer, enjoying the sweet taste of success and taken the tough calls as and when situations demanded. Following his decision to leave full-time employment in December 2011, he moved with his wife to live in Sri Lanka, where he has maintained an active involvement with the airline business by undertaking consultancy assignments upon request for Emirates, Optiontown, T2RL and SriLankan. During 2015 he was approached by Emirates and the Govt. of Angola, to assemble a team of seasoned, airline professionals to commence a strategic development programme designed to position TAAG Angola Airlines as a leading African international airline. Together with his management team, he relocated to Luanda last September and began arguably one of his toughest assignments yet, as Chairman and CEO of TAAG.

	Ornagh Hoban Chief Marketing Officer Datalex Ornagh Hoban is Datalex CMO and has responsibility for market and product strategy, industry partnerships and marketing communications. Ornagh has many years’ travel industry experience and has held a number of executive roles in sales, business development and product marketing. Professional experience also includes business development roles within the Oil & Gas Industry and tenure with the European Commission. Ornagh holds an honors degree in Commerce from the Universite Blaise Pascal and an honors degree in Management Studies from the University of Ulster.

	Mr Athar Husain Khan CEO Association of European Airlines Athar Husain Khan graduated from the University of Leiden with a degree in International Law, and also specialised in Air and Space Law. He subsequently joined the Aeropolitical Division of the Dutch Ministry of Transport as a negotiator of traffic rights and senior policy advisor on various international issues. He joined the Flight Operations department of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in 1998 where inter alia he was responsible for the regulatory and policy issues surrounding Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. In July 2002 he was appointed Director of Government & Industry Affairs, dealing mainly with infrastructure and environment issues, the Air France – KLM merger and European and international aeropolitical affairs. In February 2007 he became General Manager Infrastructure at the Association of European Airlines, dealing with value chain issues such as the airline-airport relationship, airport charges, airport capacity, slots, ground handling and social affairs. In 2010 he also assumed responsibility for environment and consumer affairs as General Manager Policy, Environment and Infrastructure. In June 2011 he was appointed Deputy Secretary General of AEA and as of June 1st 2012 he became the Acting Secretary General. In December 2013 he assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer.

	Mr Olivier Jankovec Director General ACI Europe Olivier Jankovec became Director General of the European Region of the Airports Council International (ACI EUROPE) in September 2006. The organisation represents close to 500 airports in 45 European countries. In 2014, our member airports handled over 90% of commercial air traffic in Europe, welcoming more than 1.8 billion passengers, 18.4 million tonnes of freight and 21.2 million aircraft movements. These airports contribute to the employment of 12.3 million people, generating €675 billion each year (4.1%) of GDP in Europe. He first joined ACI EUROPE in March 2006 as Director of Strategy & Communications. Olivier has over 20 years of governmental and lobbying experience, having worked for Alitalia (2002-2006), Air France (2000-2002) and the Air Transport Directorate of the European Commission (1994-2000). Immediately prior to joining ACI EUROPE Olivier was the Director of Institutional Relations for Alitalia where he was in charge of governmental affairs at national, European and International levels. During this time he was also Chair of the Association of European Airlines Policy Committee. In 2006 and 2007, he participated in the EU’s High Level Group on the future of aviation regulation in Europe. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the World Tourism Forum.

	Mr Juha Järvinen Chief Commercial Officer Finnair Juha has 17 years aviation experience with past positions in passenger commercial operations, airport operations, customer fulfillment centre services as well as cargo. After 14 years with Scandinavian SAS Group in London, Helsinki, Tallinn and Stockholm, he has managed the Finnair Cargo subsidiary as Managing Director during 2012-2014, with focus on re-positioning the cargo unit for future growth and toughening market environment. Since 20 October 2014, he takes over as Chief Commercial Officer for Finnair, with responsibility for airline's commercial functions, cargo, tour operator and travel agency units. Juha is Finnish national with British BA Honours and Austrian MBA degrees.

	Mr Stephen Kavanagh CEO Aer Lingus Stephen Kavanagh was appointed Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board on 1 March 2015. Mr Kavanagh is a graduate of University College Dublin and joined Aer Lingus in 1988. He undertook a variety of roles in operational and commercial departments culminating in his appointment as an executive in 2006 and was part of the Initial Public Offering team that brought Aer Lingus to market in that year. He served as Chief Commercial Officer from 2009 where he led improvements in retail and revenue management, partner and network development. Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive Officer he held the role of Chief Strategy and Planning Officer.

	Mary Kerins Head of Health, Safety, Sustainability and Environment daa As Head of Health, Safety, Sustainability and Environment for DAA, Mary is responsible for policy development and review as well as compliance activities in these areas for Dublin and Cork airports. She is a member of the Board of the National Tourism Development Authority in Ireland (Fáilte Ireland), and was part of the Grow Dublin Tourism Taskforce. Mary was previously Chairman of the ACI-Europe Economics Committee and member of the World ACI Economics and the ICAO AEP/ANSEP Committees. Mary has a Ph. D. in Chemistry from University College Dublin, and has been with DAA for eighteen years.

	Kurt Knackstedt President Association of Corporate Travel Executives In January 2014, Kurt assumed the role of President of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE). ACTE is the leading industry body for advocacy, research and education for the global corporate travel industry. As President, Kurt is the senior volunteer leader of ACTE and serves at the order of the Board and the membership. The President is the Chair of both the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. The President also has general supervision of all business and affairs of the Association and gives direction and inertia to the formulation and achievement of the Associations philosophy, mission, strategy and goals, and also serves as primary spokesperson. Kurt’s term runs through the end of 2016. In early 2015, Kurt was appointed CEO of Troovo, a newly launched technology company focused on driving greater efficiency and automation of transaction-based industries. Troovo’s approach to automation is flexible, nimble and collaborative, helping to increase customer profitability through lower operational costs. Based out of Australia, Troovo is working with companies around the world to help streamline transactional processing, optimise travel operations and integrate multiple data streams for maximum business productivity. Prior to Troovo, Kurt was with global mining giant Rio Tinto as the Global Category Leader for Travel and Expense Management. In this role based in Singapore, Kurt led Rio Tinto’s global Travel and Expense strategy with key suppliers focusing on improving the total Rio Tinto travel experience.He had global responsibility for travel management, strategic airline, hotel and car sourcing strategies, and driving best practice in corporate card and expense management processes and systems. Before joining Rio Tinto, Kurt was Principal of intelligent.travel consulting, a consultancy devoted to assisting corporations, technology companies, travel suppliers and agents, and travel management companies get the most out of their technology and product solutions, supplier engagements, social media and marketing plans, and strategic development efforts. Prior to his consultancy, Kurt was Vice President and Head of Advisory Services, Field Effectiveness, Marketing and Product Management, Asia Pacific, at American Express Business Travel in Sydney.In that role, Kurt drove a regionally-focused approach to these four core disciplines, to deliver optimum customer value and revenue growth to the business. Prior to joining American Express, Kurt held roles at Travelport Corporate Travel Solutions as Senior Director, International Markets, responsible for strategic development, marketing, partnership activity and relationship management, based out of the UK.Prior to that he was Director of Product Management and Marketing, Asia Pacific for Travelport splitting his time between Sydney and Hong Kong. Kurt began his corporate travel industry career at Rosenbluth International in Philadelphia, USA, in product management, marketing and strategy roles, culminating in his appointment as Director, Global Marketing - Strategic Travel Services. Kurt holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Indiana University, USA. Kurt is based in Sydney, Australia and is a dual citizen of the USA and Australia.

	Robert Land Senior VP Government Affairs & Associate General Counsel JetBlue Airways Robert Land, a founding crew member of JetBlue, has been with the company since 1998 and currently serves as Senior VP for Government Affairs and Associate General Counsel. He is based in JetBlue's Washington DC office. Mr Land is responsible for the company's relations with the executive and legislative branches of the US government as well as state and local governing bodies. He also shares primary legal responsibility for regulatory matters and participates as a member of JetBlue's senior management team. Prior to JetBlue, Mr Land worked in the Office of the Secretary of Transportation as a special assistant; as Chief of Staff at the Federal Railroad Administration; and on the White House Advance staff for Vice President Gore. Before his government service career, Mr Land worked as an attorney at the firm of Proskauer Rose. In addition, Mr Land served as Legislative Consultant to President Clinton's blue ribbon panel The National Commission to Ensure a Strong Competitive Airline Industry. He holds a BA with honors from Skidmore College and from the Washington College of Law at American University. He serves as a member of the bar of New York and the District of Colombia. JetBlue is New York's Hometown AirlineTM, with other focus cities in Boston, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Los Angeles/Long Beach, Orlando, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The airline began operations in February 2000 and currently serves nearly 80 destinations across the US, Caribbean, and Central and South America. JetBlue's 180 aircraft fleet is comprised of Airbus A320 and Embraer 190 models, with an order for 75 additional aircraft through 2018 that includes 30 Airbus A321 aircraft. JetBlue plans to take delivery of 40 Airbus A320neos (new engine option) between 2018 and 2021.

	Prof Geoffrey Lipman President International Council of Tourism Partners • Former Executive Director IATA: President WTTC: Assistant Secretary General UNWTO. Worked closely with industry CEOs and Ministers of Tourism, Transport Environment and Economy, around the world for 30 years Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council. • Served on public / private sector Boards in Africa, Europe, Middle East and Canada: Tourism Envoy to UNDP Administrator; Member EU Commissions on Airline Liberalization and on Tourism Employment: Environment Advisor to the Governor of Jeju Island, Korea: President ICTP (International Coalition of Tourism Partners) • Written / lectured widely on tourism strategy, sustainability & liberalization; co-author/ editor of two books and numerous journal articles on Green Growth & Travelism. Visiting Professor at Universities in Europe, USA and China. For more than four decades he has played a leading role in the emergence of Travel & Tourism as a serious socioeconomic sector. As Executive Director at IATA in the 1970s helped drive a new liberalization agenda, responding to airline deregulation. As first President of WTTC throughout the 1990s, he worked to pioneer new systems of measuring the sector, creating CSR Certification and supporting China’s efforts to open Tourism markets. As Assistant Secretary General of UNWTO he spearheaded new development support systems, led the Davos Climate Summit and launched G20 Summit recognition program. Lipman has championed Travelism with Heads of State, Ministers, Chief Executives and grass roots activists. and is leading a global green growth initiative. He has worked closely with the World Economic Forum since the early 90's on its Competitiveness and Smart Travel activities and is the longest serving Member of its Global Agenda Council.

	Mr Conor McCarthy Executive Chairman Dublin Aerospace Conor McCarthy started in the industry at 16 years of age as an Avionics apprentice and subsequently gaining a Degree in Production Engineering from Trinity College Dublin. Conor then spent 18 years with Aer Lingus where he was Chief Executive of Aer Lingus Commuter. From 1996 to 2000, Conor was the Director of Group Operations for Ryanair taking part in its IPO, introduction of the 737-800 fleet and rolling out the LCC model across Continental Europe. In late 2000 Conor left Ryanair to establish his own aviation consultancy company, PlaneConsult. Over the past 15 years Conor has worked with a large number of clients including easyJet, Aer Lingus, AirAsia, Qantas-Jetstar, Pegasus, Copa, AirAsia X and VivaAerobus. During 2006 PlaneConsult, Irelandia and Mexico’s largest coach operator established a new LCC, VivaAerobus, which currently operates 19 aircraft and is a vibrant, profitable and growing force within Mexican aviation. Conor is a shareholder in VivaAerobus. Conor is a co-founder and former director of AirAsia, Southeast Asia’s largest low-cost carrier. He remains a shareholder and advisor to AirAsia. He joined the Board of Pegasus Airlines, the largest LCC in Turkey, in 2012. In 2009 Conor established Dublin Aerospace, a new MRO company with a unique approach in the Aircraft, APU and Landing Systems Overhaul sector enabling this Irish MRO to compete with the Middle East/Far Eastern MROs. The enterprise reached profitability after 12 months in operation and has grown its revenue by 5X in just four years. He is Executive Chairman of Dublin Aerospace. Following on the successful launch and growth of Dublin Aerospace, Conor won the 2011 Ernst & Young Irish Entrepreneur of the Year (Emerging Category).

	Mr Simon McNamara Director General European Regions Airline Association (ERA) Simon McNamara was appointed Director General on 1 January 2013. He is responsible to ERA’s board for the delivery and implementation of ERA’s work in the field of policy, events and communications. Under his leadership ERA is highlighting the aviation sector’s vital contribution to Europe’s future economic prosperity, particularly in the regions of Europe. McNamara travels extensively within Europe meeting with policy-making bodies such as EASA and the European Parliament and Council. He is a sought-after speaker at industry events and provides comment and analysis on market issues across a range of international media. A graduate of City University, London, McNamara also holds an MSc from Canfield University in the UK. His career in aviation spans nearly 20 years – before joining ERA in 1999 McNamara held positions at the Flight Data Company and the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations.

	David O'Flanagan Co-Founder & CEO Boxever David O'Flanagan is co-founder and CEO of Boxever, the leader in data science and omni-channel personalisation solutions for airlines and travel companies. Boxever’s Customer Intelligence Cloud enables travel marketers to build a 360 degree view of every customer and apply predictive analytics and machine learning to automatically create personalized, one-to-one marketing experiences that lead to higher conversion rates, increased revenue and truly differentiated customer experiences. Boxever’s platform represents a new class of enterprise IT and enables digital transformation within airlines and travel organizations. Today, leading travel brands from all across the globe – including Emirates, Air New Zealand, eDreams ODIGEO, Cebu Pacific, Alitalia, AeroMexico, Brussels Airlines, and Aer Lingus – rely on Boxever to help acquire, convert and retain customers.An experienced software executive, David has developed and managed enterprise software in a number of verticals including mobile telecoms, travel and cloud. David holds an MSc in Computer Science and a BA in Mathematics from Trinity College Dublin.

	Mr Keisuke Okada Special Advisor to the Chairman ANA Holdings Inc Keisuke Okada joined ANA as a trainee aircraft engineer in 1974 after graduating from The University of Tokyo’s School of Engineering. He rose through the ranks and soon held a variety of managerial posts in ANA’s Engineering and Maintenance Division, including roles in Planning and Production Control. Okada moved on to Head Quarters as deputy director of Airline Alliances in 1998, where he oversaw ANA’s entry into the Star Alliance. He was then appointed Executive Vice President of Corporate Planning and Cargo Marketing & Services for ANA Group and promoted to the board of directors in 2004. From 2007 to 2013 he held the reigns of Alliances and International Affairs and was also responsible for the entirety of ANA’s IT services, which include the challenges of process innovation and digital marketing. During this time period, from 2010 to 2013, he was appointed to a chair of the Star Alliance Management Board where he created synergies and fostered positive business relationships with executives from other member airlines. In April 2014, he stepped down from the board of ANA and is now serving as the Special Advisor to the Chairman of ANA Holdings at his office in Tokyo. Okada is a cycling enthusiast and in his free time can often be seen enjoying the fresh air on his bike along the banks of the Tama River in suburban Tokyo. He currently resides in Tokyo with his wife, and is the proud father of two sons.

	Thomas Reynaert Managing Director Airlines 4 Europe From 1 March 2016 Thomas became Managing Director of Airlines 4 Europe. Previously Thomas was head of the United Technologies International Operations office (UTIO) in Brussels, where he led the government relations activities for Europe on behalf of United Technologies (UTC) during 2008–2015. During this time, he was responsible for providing counsel to the corporation and its business units on EU rulemaking and policy, as well as articulating the company’s point of view and business interests to decision makers in the EU institutions and national governments. He also maintained top-level contacts for the corporation and assisted the leaders of UTC’s European businesses in building relationships with decision makers in the EU. In 2011, with the support of UTC’s global CEO, he established the ‘UTC European Regional Meeting’, an internal European business executive roundtable to share best practices across UTC’s businesses – a practice that was then copied by other regional offices globally. During Thomas’ leadership UTC’s government relations program was reorganized and truly professionalized through a strict performance model, in line with annual business objectives and based on KPIs endorsed by the global leadership of the company. Prior to joining UTC, Thomas led the government relations and regulatory affairs team for Nortel Networks in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), beginning in 2000. Before that, he was director of EU public affairs for Lucent Technologies (today: ‘Alcatel-Lucent’). Earlier positions include business development manager at the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association and external relations consultant at the European Commission. Between November 2008 and May 2014 Thomas served as a member of the Supervisory Board of the UTC Company OTIS Management GmbH (Germany). During 2011-2015 Thomas was Chair of AmCham EU’s Security and Defense Committee. He represented UTC at the European Executive Council (EEC) since 2010. In 2014 he became a member of the Strategy Advisory Board of the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) and of the European Advisory Committee of the Public Affairs Council (PAC). In September 2015 he was appointed a Member of the Executive Committee of the European Centre for Public Affairs (ECPA).

	Daniel Roeska Vice President Business Development Lufthansa German Airlines Daniel is Vice President Business Development for Lufthansa German Airlines. In this position he is responsible for the airline's strategy, business model innovation and transformation. He was formerly Director Quality, Process and Project Management at Lufthansa Cargo AG. Prior to re-joining the Lufthansa Group Daniel was a Principal with global management consultancy Booz & Company working primarily in the transport and aviation industry. He started his career with Lufthansa as a management trainee and has held several posts throughout the group. Daniel Röska holds a graduate degree and MBA from WHU Koblenz.

	Mr Mark Schwab CEO Star Alliance Mark Schwab is Chief Executive Officer of Star Alliance Services GmbH. He and his team coordinate the development and strategies of the world’s first and most experienced global airline alliance from its base in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Seen today as a role model for the civil aviation industry the Alliance was founded in 1997, with the aim of offering worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. By working together closely in Star Alliance, its member airlines are able to create and enhance products and services which cater to the needs of international travelers, as well as to develop joint IT solutions and to exploit the synergies that such large-scale, global collaboration can generate. Prior to assuming his role at Star Alliance in January 2012, Mark Schwab held numerous positions in the airline industry at United Airlines, US Airways and American Airlines. Most recently he was responsible for alliance activities at Star Alliance member airline United, where he was Senior Vice President Alliances. In this role he also served on the Management Board of the Star Alliance organisation. Mark Schwab began his aviation career in 1975 with Pan American World Airways in Rio de Janeiro and went on to head organisations in Latin America, Europe and Asia. He spent most of his career outside his home country, the United States of America. Mark Schwab has a degree in Latin American Affairs from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville and is fluent in both Spanish and Portuguese. He is married with two daughters.

	Martin Sedlacky CCO airBaltic Martin Sedlacky is the Member of the executive Board and Chief Operations Officer of airBaltic, a hybrid carrier serving 60 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and the CIS from its home base in Riga, Latvia. Martin Sedlacky is part of the team that made airBaltic Re-Shape business turnaround programme a success story. In the past decade, Martin Sedlacky has had a strong focus on business restructurings, including airlines across Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, USA, Singapore, Malaysia. Prior to joining airBaltic, Martin Sedlacky was part of Boston Consulting Group (BCG), working on business consultancy projects in transportation and other industries. He has received an Engineer degree and CEMS Master’s in International Management from the University of Economics in Prague and Helsinki School of Economics.

	Mr Derek Sharp Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Air Commerce Group Travelport Derek Sharp has global responsibility for Travelport’s commercial relationships with airlines and rail suppliers. In this role, he leads a worldwide team of sales, business development and operations experts focused on expanding and improving upon the company’s value proposition to the supplier community.In addition, Mr. Sharp also manages Travelport’s airline IT solutions business, which delivers hosting and IT solutions to airlines around the world. Mr. Sharp joined Travelport in 2010 from EDS/HP where he held numerous senior roles in the US, Europe and Asia in strategic sales, corporate development and major account management. Prior to EDS/HP, Mr. Sharp worked as a management consultant with Bain & Company and as an international account executive with United Parcel Services (UPS).He has a BA in Political Science from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Mr. Sharp lives in London with his wife, Missy, and their two children.

	Mr John S Slattery Chief Commercial Officer Embraer Commercial Aviation John Slattery is Chief Commercial Officer at Embraer Commercial Aviation, responsible for global sales of aircraft and services. John joined Embraer in early 2011 as Senior Vice President, responsible for Customer Finance; Asset & Risk Management. The following year John was appointed C.C.O. taking on broader executive responsibilities incorporating worldwide sales of commercial aircraft and services. Since joining Embraer, John has been an executive board director at ECC Leasing, Embraer’s wholly owned leasing company. Prior to joining Embraer, John spent fifteen years in executive and leadership roles at various commercial aerospace advisory, leasing, and banking organizations. Of note, in 2001, John was a co-founder of RBS Aviation Capital (now SMBC Aviation Capital) and the firm’s Managing Director in New York, responsible for leading the bank’s commercial aircraft leasing and asset-backed lending to airline customers across the Americas. John is a Fellow of The Royal Aeronautical Society, President Emeritus of The Wings Club and Director Emeritus of ORBIS International. Awarded an M.B.A. from University of Limerick, John remains active with UL as an Adjunct Professor in the Kemmy School of Business. John lives in Dublin with his wife and two children.

	Andrew Stothert CEO Brand Vista Andrew is the co-founder and CEO of Brand Vista a global customer experience alignment consultancy with clients in sectors that range from pharmaceuticals to theme parks and horse racing to global aviation data and all points in between. A diverse group that all face the same issue – in the new era of branding they defined by what they do and not what they say they are going to do. The business was set up in 2000, long before customer experience was talked about seriously and in the very early days of the digital revolution. Andrew identified that brands were being built by the ever increasing numbers of interactions with customers and recognised that this would only become extenuated as the revolution gathered pace. Fast forward to today and the pace of change and customer behaviour continues to make demands on brands that often struggle to adapt. Their unique alignment alignment process that puts the brand at the heart of the customer experience has helped a number of global companies to succeed such as Merlin Entertainments, Astrazeneca, The Jockey Club,OAG, ASDA, Odeon, Prezzo, The Harry Potter global franchise.

	Mr Abdul Wahab Teffaha Secretary General Arab Air Carriers Association After his post-graduate studies in Socio - Economic Development & Political Sociology, Mr. Teffaha joined AACO as an assistant tariff analyst and rose up in the ranks until becoming Assistant Secretary General in 1992. He was elected Secretary General of the Association in June 1996 and still serves in this capacity. Mr. Teffaha played a key role in developing a new strategy for AACO based on delivering specific measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound results to AACO member Airlines. Joint Projects were quickly launched and include to date Fuel Project, Ground Handling, Joint Market Intelligence, the establishment of Regional Training Center and Global Distribution Agreements covering almost all the markets of the region and MRO Cooperation.

	Mr Johnny Thorsen Senior Director Value Services SAP Mobile Services Johnny is Senior Director Value Services with SAP Mobile Services. Prior to that he was the global product and strategy owner for Concur Messaging based in San Francisco, California since Concur acquired conTgo in March 2013. Prior to Concur Johnny spent 6 years as the co-founder and CEO of conTgo Ltd, being at the forefront of the mobile travel technology revolution, focusing on “point of experience” software for corporate travellers, while maintaining his strong links to the travel procurement and security areas.. Prior to launching conTgo, Johnny has held a range of senior positions in the travel technology industry with major players such as Travelport, Sabre, HRG and CWT. In January 2011 Johnny was named one the 25 most influential people in the global business travel industry by the US-based BTN magazine, reflecting the developments conTgo experienced since the major break-through during the ash cloud crisis in April 2010.

	Mr Kevin Toland Chief Executive Dublin Aiport Authority (DAA) Kevin Toland became Chief Executive of Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) in Jan-2013. Kevin joined DAA from Glanbia where was Chief Executive Officer and President of Glanbia USA & Global Nutritionals, based in Evanston, Illinois. He was a member of the Glanbia board from 2003 until 2012. Glanbia USA & Global Nutritionals is the largest division of Glanbia. It had a turnover of EUR1.4 billion in 2011, up 35% from 2010 and operating profit of EUR129 million, an increase of 23% over the previous year. It employs 2,600 people in four global business units with 14 manufacturing plants as well as sales and marketing operations across North America, Europe and Asia. Kevin moved to the United States in 2004 and assumed the Chief Executive role in 2005. Under his guidance, Glanbia USA & Global Nutritionals expanded to become the number one manufacturer and exporter of American style cheese in the United States and the number one globally in Sports Nutrition. Before moving to US, Kevin held a number of other positions with Glanbia. He joined the company in 1999 as Director of Strategy and Marketing, before being promoted to Chief Executive of its Consumer Foods Division and subsequently becoming Group Development Director. Prior to joining Glanbia, Kevin held a number of senior management positions with Coca-Cola Bottlers in Russia and with Grand Metropolitan in Ireland and Central Europe. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants and holds a Diploma in Applied Finance from the Irish Management Institute. Kevin is from Navan, Co. Meath and is married to Aisling who is from Dublin. They have three boys: Ben 14, Josh 12 and Matthew 10.

	Tony Tyler Director General & CEO IATA Tony Tyler became the sixth person to lead the International Air Transport Association (IATA) when he took on the role of Director General and CEO from 1 July 2011. With over three decades of airline industry experience, Tyler is a strong advocate for a safe, secure, efficient and sustainable global air transport industry. Tyler is keen to engage all aviation stakeholders to achieve common goals. This is evident in two projects which IATA is undertaking with his leadership. IATA is working with multiple industry participants on a New Distribution Capability that will modernize the way that airline products are distributed via travel agencies and online travel sites in addition to aligning the process with standard Internet retailing practices. Similarly, IATA has partnered with Airports Council International on airport Smart Security. The vision is to improve security effectiveness and convenience while removing the hassles that passengers face today. Tyler has also championed IATA’s commitment to addressing aviation’s impact on the environment. This effort led to passage of a milestone Resolution at IATA’s 69th Annual General Meeting in 2013, calling upon governments to reach a global agreement on a market-based measure (MBM) as a key tool to manage aviation’s carbon footprint and achieve the industry’s carbon-neutral growth target. A passionate believer that aviation is a force for good in the world, Tyler has been a tireless global campaigner on behalf of the industry. He carries with him a message that aviation delivers extensive social and economic benefits—supporting some 57 million jobs and enabling over $2.2 trillion of business annually. He has also overseen a major internal restructuring of IATA to improve the association’s organizational effectiveness in delivering greater value to its members. Tyler has announced he will retire from IATA in June 2016 at the expiration of his five-year term. Prior to joining IATA, Tyler built his career at John Swire & Sons in Hong Kong. He joined the company in 1977 and in 1978 moved within the Swire Group to Cathay Pacific Airways, rising to the position of Chief Executive (2007 to 2011). During that time he served on the IATA Board of Governors, including as its Chairman from June 2009 to June 2010. Tyler, a British national, was born in Egypt in 1955 and graduated from Oxford University in Jurisprudence. He has broad international working experience in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, the Philippines and the United Kingdom. At IATA, he works from both its main offices in Montreal, Canada and Geneva, Switzerland. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

	Mr Decius Valmorbida Vice President Distribution Marketing Amadeus Decius is Vice President of Distribution Marketing. He is responsible for the strategic planning and marketing strategy for all customer segments of our Distribution Business, including airlines, Travel agencies and other service providers. He was appointed to the job in August 2013. Prior to this role, he held several positions in the LATAM region. He started in Amadeus as Operations Director for the Brazilian ACO in January 2004. In 2006, he relocated to Nice to become the Head of LATAM Marketing team. In 2009 he moved back to Brazil and had a brief term as the GM of the South LATAM ACO and shortly after in July 2009 he was appointed as Director for the LATAM region. During his term as Director of LATAM, he has helped Amadeus grow its business both on its IT and Distribution business lines. Prior to joining Amadeus, he held several positions for 10 years in the Telecom industry in companies such as AT&T and Ernst & Young. Decius earned an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from PUC in Rio de Janeiro (1995). He received an MBA in General Management from Insper Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil (2004) and is a graduate of the General Management Program at Harvard Business School (2010). Decius is a Brazilian citizen and speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish, and French. He has lived in the US, France and now resides in Spain

	Mr Erik Venter CEO Comair Erik joined Comair in 1996 as Financial Manager, and has held various positions within the company including Commercial Manager; Commercial Director and Financial Director. In July of 2006 Erik was appointed as Joint CEO of Comair and served in this position until December 2011 when he assumed responsibility for the company as sole Chief Executive Officer.He remains in this position to date.Erik was involved in Comair’s implementation of a British Airways franchise in 1996 as well as the launch of its low cost brand, kulula.com, in 2001. Whilst attending the University of Cape Town, Erik attained a B.Com (Accounting and Information Systems majors) and Post Graduate Diploma in Accounting and further completed his articles with KPMG, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant (South Africa). Erik has served a term as Chairman of the Airlines Association of South Africa as well as on various boards. As a married man with two daughters, Erik has a busy lifestyle but finds time for his hobbies which include painting and building cars and furniture.

	Steven Verhagen President VNV-Dutch Air Line Pilots Association With a background as MSc Aeronautical Engineer from the University of Delft in The Netherlands I started my flying career in 1991 at the KLM Flight Academy. In 1994 I began as a second officer on the Boeing 747-400 and ended up as captain of the Airbus 330-200/300 in 2014 after several career moves. During my career I have been involved in employee matters from the very beginning, while always keeping an eye on the interests of the company as well. I was president of the Financial Committee of the Works Council for several years before joining VNV Dutch Alpa, the only pilot union in The Netherlands, in 2004 as board member. My motto: a joint approach is key. Although the emphasis for many issues might differ, the point on the horizon should coincide to be successful. If not you have to work on it. I am a strong believer in sharing interests and cooperation or make those interests to match. From that perspective it has been a great opportunity to be able to go for president of VNV in 2013. With all the issues in the extremely competitive aviation environment this is a challenge every day again.

	Mr Martin Warner Principal MW Travel Consultancy Limited Martin Warner has 35 years experience in Travel Distribution, is Principal at MW Travel Consultancy Limited providing advisory services to the travel and associated industries. He is a Founding Partner of KuriusSolutions with Martin Cowley, a global business that develops ideas and provides to solutions to opportunities to travel and related industries. Formerly Executive Vice President, Market Strategy & Segmentation at Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) a global leader specializing in business travel management, responsible for devising and implementing the Marketing Strategy of the business including Corporate Travel, focused on creating value based travel management solutions for corporate customers. From 2008 to 2011 Martin was COO, Asia Pacific at CWT with responsibility for all Asia Pacific Operations of the business. He served as a member of CWT's Executive Team for 10 years, reporting to Group CEO. He served in non-Executive board positions in the companies Jt-Ventures in China, Japan, India, Indonesia & South Africa, and Executive board member of subsidiaries in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong. From 2003 he served as EVP, Global Account Solutions at CWT responsible for the companies top 100 multinational client business, a US$4Bn top line business unit. Martin is based in London and Miami, spending time with clients in markets around the world. His recent engagements include – WEX, Travelport, ATPI, CAPA, Majid al Futtaim, Abacus, ComBTAS. In addition to his strategic advisory work, he is a much sought after facilitator, moderator and speaker.

	Mr Gordon Wilson President & CEO Travelport Gordon Wilson is President and CEO of Travelport, one of the world’s leading providers of critical travel content aggregation, search and booking services for the global travel industry. Mr. Wilson was appointed to his current post on June 1, 2011, having previously served as Travelport's Deputy CEO since November 2009 and as President and CEO of the Travelport GDS, the largest division of the company, since January 2007. Mr. Wilson has 20 years’ experience in global electronic travel distribution, in various senior positions, including CEO roles with Galileo and Cendant Travel Distribution Services. During his career, Mr. Wilson has lived and worked in the United Kingdom, the U.S.A., South Africa and Portugal. Gordon Wilson holds a Masters Degree in Law from the University of Cambridge .

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