On September 13, 2013, the Conference "Aviation Day Eastern Europe", organized by the International Air Transport Association and the Ministry of Transport of Romania was held in Bucharest. The conference was attended by a Polish delegation - President of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Piotr Ołowski and the Polish candidate for the ICAO Council, Małgorzata Polkowska, Ph.D.
The conference was opened by the IATA Director General – Mr. Tony Tyler, he stressed the importance of the aviation industry in the world and that it has a huge impact on the development of technology, the number of jobs and the overall economy. He also mentioned the upcoming hundredth anniversary of the first commercial flight from St. Petersburg to Tampa, Florida which would be celebrated in 2014. He also highlighted the impact of aviation on the development of economy in Eastern Europe and the number of jobs related to the aviation industry. According to the statistics, the aviation sector is responsible for 78 thousand jobs in Romania, 48 thousand in Hungary, 141 thousand in Bulgaria and 84 thousand in Poland. Mr. Tyler noted that there are three areas where a new regulatory framework is needed for the industry to grow. These are issues on the environment, the passengers’ rights and aviation infrastructure development. The IATA Director General thanked the Polish delegation for a significant contribution to organizing the conference. Also the President of ECAC and simultaneously Director General of Civil Aviation Authority of Romania, Mr. Catalin Radu thanked IATA and Poland for a Workshop on safety audit programs organized on 1 and 2 of July in Warsaw.
The conference consisted of three panels. The first panel was moderated by Mr. Catalin Radu. The panel was devoted to the growth of the aviation sector in Eastern Europe. Mr. Catalin Radu reminded the participants about the Polish candidacy for the ICAO Council in the upcoming elections. During the panel, the President of the Civil Aviation Authority gave a presentation on "Addressing market changes through regional cooperation ." The President thanked the hosts and proposed to change the name of the conference to "Aviation Family Day", which was met with the approval of the organizers and participants. During his presentation, Mr. Piotr Ołowski spoke about great changes that have taken place over the years in the aviation sector. In the case of Poland, there has been a tenfold increase in air transport market within 20 years. Since 2004, every year the number of passengers served at Polish airports increased by 20 %. In addition, between 2007 and 2012, despite the economic crisis, Poland recorded a nearly 30 percent increase in numbers of passengers. Mr. Piotr Ołowski also mentioned the meeting of experts on Perspectives of Aviation Market in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, which was held on 9th of July 2013 at the Civil Aviation Authority headquarters in Warsaw and he highlighted the necessity to continue the process of strengthening regional cooperation and exchanging information between countries in the region which has started during that meeting. During the panel, the participants also discussed the functioning of the national carriers. Among the panelists there were Mr. Christian Heinzmann – CEO, TAROM , Gheorghe Racaru - Director General of the air carrier Blue Air, Jost Lammers – CEO, Budapest Airport, Nicolae Petrov – CEO, Carpatair and Sebastian Mikosz - CEO of LOT Polish Airlines.
The second panel on the challenges of reducing CO2 emissions in the aviation sector in Poland and abroad was moderated by Małgorzata Polkowska, Ph.D. During the panel she gave a presentation on "Dynamic growth of Aviation Market and Environmental issues." Ms. Polkowska pointed out in her speech that the aviation market is responsible for 2 % of global CO2 emissions , and that due to an increasing number of air operations - the emissions will also increase. Taking into account the benefits of the aviation market, the aviation branch should work out together the most effective solutions that can reduce the emissions and at the same time ensure the sustainable development of the aviation sector. Essential in this regard would be the cooperation with governments. The panel was also attended, among others, by Mr. Aleodor Francu - CEO, Romatsa, Mrs. Debra Santos - Managing Director for Marketing in Europe, Boeing, Mr. Etienne Cabare – New Energies Project Manager, Airbus, Mr. Peter Curran, Assistant Director Infrastructure S&FO Europe, IATA, Mr. David Ciceo - President of the Romanian Airports Association and Director of the Cluj Aiprt, Mr. Valentin Lordache - Director of Communications, Bucharest Airport.
The third panel was devoted to the new system of ticket distribution. The panel was moderated by Mr. Yanik Hoyles - Head of the New Distribution Program, IATA and Mrs. Dana Chiriac – Distribution Manager, TAROM.
The panel was also participated by ticket agencies representatives.
Press about the Aviation Day: http://www.financiarul.ro/2013/09/14/iata-budapest-airport-plans-500-million-euro-investments-in-next-25-years/
From the left: Mr. Tony Tyler - IATA Director General, Mr. Piotr Ołowski - President of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Republic of Poland, Mrs. Małgorzata Polkowska - Polish candidate for the ICAO Council
