Archived item: Heathrow-hosted 3rd British-Irish Airports EXPO in pictures

The 3rd British-Irish Airports EXPO, hosted by Heathrow Airport at Olympia London on 12-13 June, was the biggest-ever UK airports trade show, attracting 153 exhibitors.

The event was supported by Metropolitan Police Aviation Policing Command, Regional And Business Airports Group, Exporting is Great, British Aviation Group, Enterprise Ireland, and the UK Civil Aviation Authority. It saw over 70 key figures from the British and Irish airports community discuss a range of topics, including connectivity, infrastructure development and accessibility, across five specialist conferences:

• The Regional And Business Airports Group’s Heathrow Connectivity Conference
• The Heathrow Expansion, Supply Chain, and Best Practice Conference
• The Civil Aviation Authority’s PRM and Airport Accessibility Conference
• The British-Irish Airports Showcase Conference
• The Metropolitan Police Aviation Policing Command Airports Counter Terrorism Conference

The event also included the annual conference of the Regional And Business Airports Group (RABA), a Networking Reception featuring the British-Irish Airports Unsung Hero Awards, and a special closing interview with England goalkeeping legend Peter Shilton.

The Heathrow Connectivity Conference – curated by Heathrow, RABA, and anna.aero, and moderated by RABA Chair Neil Pakey – provided an intensive examination of airport and airline propositions for new Heathrow services. Significantly, Baroness Sugg, Aviation Minister, Department for Transport, and Humza Yousaf, Minister for Transport and the Islands, The Scottish Government, shared the platform to express their unified support for Heathrow Expansion. A keynote presentation from John Holland-Kaye, CEO Heathrow Airport, focused on what it will take to “deliver new domestic routes and connect the country to fast-growing markets around the world”, while Graham Bolton, Chairman, British Aviation Group, spoke about “the importance of airport expansion to the UK supply chain”.

Simon McNamara, Director of Communications, Flybe, and Mark Darby, CEO Aurigny, explored the regional airline feed proposition at Heathrow. Meanwhile, the business propositions for reconnecting regional airports to Heathrow were presented by Inglis Lyon, Managing Director, Highlands & Islands Airports; Emily James, Head of Marketing and Route Development, Aéroport Bergerac Dordogne Périgord; Al Titterington, Managing Director, Cornwall Newquay Airport; and Dean Boljuncic, Head of Route Development, Eindhoven Airport.

easyJet’s Chief Commercial & Strategy Officer Robert Carey gave the closing Star Presentation in the Heathrow Connectivity Conference. Carey said easyJet’s plans for a potential base at an expanded Heathrow could see it serving up to 18 domestic destinations including 12 currently unserved UK airports. Carey also said it was considering 61 potential destinations in Europe.

The Heathrow Expansion, Supply Chain, and Best Practice Conference opened with senior executive briefings from Emma Gilthorpe, Executive Director, Heathrow Expansion, and Phil Wilbraham, Expansion Programme Director, Heathrow Airport. They defined Heathrow Expansion in detail, and explored market engagement and the recent announcement on the search for Heathrow Innovation Partners.
A panel session chaired by Andy Haynes, Procurement Director, Heathrow Airport, highlighted supplier experiences of working at Heathrow, recent successes, and future ambitions. Companies represented included Dyer & Butler, OmniServ, Mace, and Turner & Townsend.
The Rt Hon The Lord Blunkett of Brightside and Hillsborough gave the keynote presentation in a session on delivering Heathrow Expansion responsibly and sustainably. Matthew Gorman, Director of Sustainability, described Heathrow 2.0 – the airport’s plan for sustainable growth.
The closing keynote on “Heathrow’s vision for operational excellence” was delivered by Chris Garton, Chief Operating Officer, Heathrow Airport.

Lord Blunkett, in his role as Chair of the easyJet Special Assistance Advisory Group (ESAAG), delivered the keynote speech in the Civil Aviation Authority’s PRM and Airport Accessibility Conference.

Richard Moriarty, Chief Executive Designate, UK Civil Aviation Authority, launched CAP 1629: The next phase of “Civil Aviation Authority guidance” for airports on providing assistance to people with hidden disabilities.

Ian Sherriff, Chair of the Prime Minister’s National Air Transport Dementia Group, and Chris Woodruffe, Chief Operating Officer, Gatwick Airport, also spoke in the session on providing assistance to people hidden disabilities.

There were also two intensive panel discussions focused on “Making air travel more accessible” and “Hidden disabilities and airports”.

The 2nd Metropolitan Police Aviation Policing Command Airports Counter Terrorism Conference was themed “Working in partnership with all airport stakeholders to mitigate risk”.
In addition to high-level speakers from Metropolitan Police Aviation Policing Command, there were examples of best practice and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
Wilfried Covent, Senior Security Expert, Compliance & Operations Continuity, Brussels Airport Company, gave a special guest presentation on “The 22 March 2016 Brussels Airport Bombings: The attacks – and afterwards”.
Jim McWilliams, Manager – Security Regulatory Compliance and Infrastructure, Greater Toronto Airports Authority, spoke about developing a comprehensive CT programme and lessons in excellence learned from benchmarking airports around the globe (especially the UK).
The closing keynote – “Ensuring robust quality assurance across all our airport security management systems” – was delivered by Peter Drissell, Director Aviation Security, Civil Aviation Authority.

The British-Irish Airports Showcase & Operations Conference featured a keynote presentation from Stewart Wingate, CEO London Gatwick, on the airport’s £3 billion transformation.
Case studies of critical infrastructure development across the UK and island of Ireland were presented by Dublin Airport, Shannon Airport, London Luton Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Cornwall Airport Newquay, London Stansted Airport, London City Airport, and Belfast City Airport.

Key operational case studies were presented by Birmingham Airport and daa (Dublin and Cork airports), while Glasgow Airport and Doncaster Sheffield Airport participated in The British-Irish Airports Operations Roundtable.

The Networking Reception featured music by an Acoustic Roaming Band, and The British-Irish Airports Unsung Hero Awards. The award winners were:

Airports Under 3 Million: Kevin Cullinane, Head of Communications, daa Cork Airport

Airports Over 3 Million: Andy Knight, Aircraft Operations Manager, Heathrow Airport

Partner/Supplier/Vendor: Jaswinder Riat, Inter-terminal Driver, OmniServ

In a spectacular finale to this year’s event, England goalkeeping legend Peter Shilton made a special guest appearance. He toured the EXPO and gave an on-stage interview about England’s prospects in the World Cup