Archived item: 37-strong Regional and Business Airports Group (RABA) gears up for conference and AGM at British-Irish Airports EXPO

The Regional and Business Airports Group (RABA) is continuing its valuable alliance with the British-Irish Airports EXPO. It will once again hold the RABA AGM alongside the event but, this year, it will also stage an important conference on operational issues on the EXPO floor itself.

Neil Pakey, Chairman of RABA, addresses the British-Irish Airports EXPO conference in 2016 while CEO of Shannon Airport.

This free-to-attend conference will especially look at the problems and solutions to the disproportionally high cost of regulatory compliance for airports of less than 3 million passengers with case studies from airports, the regulators, and suppliers.

Besides the RABA conference, visitors will have multiple benefits including free access to a trade exhibition of 200 airport suppliers (150 in 2016), superb networking with British and Irish airports big and small (including an evening mid-summer party), while taking advantage of the superb air, rail and road access to the NEC, right next door to the event host, Birmingham Airport.

What does RABA do?

RABA is the voice of 37 UK airports with less than 3 million passengers, originally established to represent smaller airports to the Davies Airport Commission.

RABA expanded in 2014 to include Crown Dependency and business aviation airports – and now represent 75% of airports of this size.

RABA made sure regional connectivity was a key component of Airport Commission recommendations, ensuring Heathrow expansion will generate new domestic routes (Flybe alone has announced plans for 12 routes).

RABA is now also pursing new objectives, especially challenging the high costs associated with regulatory compliance which disproportionately impact smaller airports.