PECC International Roundtable
The Role of Airports & Airlines 

in Trade Liberalization & Economic Growth
September 5-6 2003, Singapore

Held back-to-back with the 15th PECC General Meeting in Brunei 1-3 September

Overview    Meeting Program    General Information    Speakers

Online registration (for PECC Members)
(Meeting Code for this event: airport)
or download registration form (for CILT members and others) for fax or email

"Bold changes are needed to ensure the long-financial sustainability of the air transport industry"
 IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani. (www.iata.org)

The PECC INTERNATIONAL  ROUND TABLE on the ROLE OF AIRPORTS & AIRLINES IN TRADE LIBERALIZATION & ECONOMIC GROWTH offers participants the opportunity to update their understanding of current issues and likely developments in the air transport sector.  The meeting will lead to a report for delivery at the APEC Ministerial in Bangkok in October.  The report will be distributed to Ministers and will summarize the key findings in each area - security, logistics, liberalization and financing.

As the message from Mr Bisignani suggests, the context of the meeting is the substantial pressure for adjustment now imposed on airlines and by implication on airports and their managers and owners. Shocks have arisen from the drop in demand for travel since September 11 and the impact of SARS. On the supply side, new models of providing services, through low cost carriers, are being refined. The adjustments that traditional carriers may have to undertake could be substantial but as they move towards new arrangements, the airlines confront a series of policy issues in trade and regulation.

IATA, the international airline organisation, has recently pointed to this set of issues. In a recent statement (http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/2003-06-02-04.htm), it referred to the 'three pillars of stagnation', namely the bilateral system, the national ownership rules, and the attitude of competition authorities. It went on to say that

"IATA supports regional liberalisation as a step towards "wide open skies" and a competition regulatory framework that will allow for further consolidation.  Further IATA supports liberalisation of national ownership and control laws, where feasible, to give airlines the freedom to merge, acquire and go to international financial markets.

The airline organisation is also focused on issues in airport regulation and operations. A consequence of more open arrangements in market for air transport services will be close attention to the regulation of providers in intermediate services, especially airports.

The focus of this meeting will be on airport issues, but in the context of developments in the aviation sector as a whole.

Presentations from around the Pacific region cover issues in airport security, airport modernization - with a focus on the role of airports in the logistics chain, the impact of liberalization of both air transport services and airport services themselves, followed by a leading-edge discussion of trends in airport finance.

The meeting will therefore offers an opportunity for industry participants to provide their views on policy issues in this sector direct to APEC Ministers.

The meeting is designed to cover recent developments in: 

• security issues at airports - recent successes and the next challenges
•  the modernisation of airports - what has to be done to meet expectations of service providers, especially in the logistics sectors, and what is the role of hub airports in regional trading networks. 
• liberalisation - what will be the implications for airports of the GATS agenda in particular. 
• airport financing and the role of the private sector - is there scope to extend the role of the private sector. 

The program seeks to make a contribution to the understanding of the role of public-private partnerships in this field.

for more information, please contact Betty Chin Ip at: betty.chinip@pecc.net 

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