The session opened by a speech of ERA president, Boet Kreiken, who briefly outlined the state of the industry.
Simon McNamara presented the work that has been done by ERA for its
members over the last year, highlighting the points related to the new
aviation policy which will be introduxed by EU within 2016. He
underlined that ERA is always present at the discussions and meetings
taking place at EU level protecting the strategic future of its members.
The panel discussion was moderated by Árni Gunnarsson, managing
director of Air Iceland. Panellists included Stefan Pichler of Air
Berlin, Hugh Flynn, CEO of ASL Group, Gerald Murphy, partner, Crowell
& Moring and John Strickland of JSL Consulting.
Stefan Pichler, CEO Air Berlin, focused on keeping the industry
competitive – how does it adapt to stay ahead? Steffan Pichler stated
that 12million tourists visited Berlin last year, generating over
29million nights. He stressed that Europe should make its way forward by
addressing issues related to high location costs, the delay rules, open
and operating hours at airports, the fact that there are too high ATM
charges, and the cost of security is increasing. He believes that Europe
is isolating itself and in a globalized market, protectionism is not
the solution.
The following panel discussion focused on...
the changing EU aviation
policy which will be finalized within 2016 and the consolidating
environment which is challenging several aspects of the industry both in
Europe and in the rest of the world.
The last day of ERA’s General Assembly 2015 started by the key
speaker of the event - Larry Hochman, former European Business Speaker
of the Year, best-selling author of The Relationship Revolution and a
pioneer of corporate mentoring in Europe, Hochman shared his expertise
on customer relationships, leadership and talent management in a lively
presentation. He discussed his expert customer relationship skills to
the aviation industry and gave invaluable advice on how best to retain
and attract customers. The conference concluded with the final session
of the event - ERA’s annual general meeting (AGM)
