Experience the EXCITING PROGRAM and many HIGH-LEVEL SPEAKERS

Vienna CESEE Airport Forum covers many of the pressing topics for aviation in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, that will be discussed by top aviation leaders and other decision makers of the region! We are happy to announce a truly high-ranking list of confirmed speakers:

This brand-new conference and exhibition will start with a Welcome Reception on Wednesday, starting at 18:00 CET on December 4^th, at the ATC TOWER (‘Level 22’) at Vienna Airport.

Thursday, December 5^th, Julian Jäger, Joint-CEO of Vienna Airport, will kick off the conference at 09:00 CET at Vienna Airport Conference & Innovation Center and State Secretary for Tourism, Mrs. Susanne Kraus-Winkler, will welcome our guests. Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI EUROPE, will set the scene, and Mario Holzner, Executive Director of The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, will give a deeper insight into the economical and geopolitical prospects of the CESEE region.

Airport CEOs will then debate the key challenges and opportunities for air travel in the region and what it means in term of regional connectivity and growth. Confirmed speakers include, Laila Odina (CEO of Riga Airport), Jiři Pos (CEO of Prague Airport), Jesús Caballero Pinto (CEO of Sofia Airport) and Thomas Dworschak (CEO of Košice Airport).

As very central actors, airlines operating in the countries of CESEE will also shed light on their view of the development of air travel in the region. In part 1, Michael Trestl of Austrian Airlines, and Jason McGuinness of Ryanair, will give presentations regarding their airlines’ strategies and challenges in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Silvia Mosquera of Wizzair will follow suit in part 2 in the afternoon and Joseph Young of Delta Air Lines will bring the transatlantic view on the CESEE region.

After lunch, the second panel discussion will highlight the role of air travel for European integration in CESEE and bring together political decision makers and industry experts on the EU level, with MEP Andreas Schieder, Member of the the European Parliament, Tânia Cardoso Simões of EUROCONTROL, Matej Zakonjšek of the European Transport Community and Oliver Jankovec (ACI EUROPE).

In the afternoon, the conference will hear the experience from Ukrainian Airports from Petro Lypovenko. This will be followed by a presentation by our esteemed sponsor Gebr. Heinemann.

The first conference day will be completed the scope of the conference is broadened by the view of investors, featuring Werner Kerschl of IFM, Olga Gorlovskaya of Sociéte Générale, Thierry Déau of Meridiam and Fernando Echegaray del Pozo of Groupe ADP, on the opportunities offered by aviation in the CESEE region as well as possible obstacles for further investment.

The panels will be moderated by Andrew Charlton, Sabire Ipek Demir and David Feldman. The Moderator of the Day is Kathrin Hanzl.

On Thursday evening, participants and speakers will be invited to join the Aviation Get-Together in the City of Vienna, where a big variety of aviation leaders and professionals meet up, accompanied by classical Viennese charm and fine Austrian wines. The venue is the former court stables (Hofstallungen) at MQ/MUMOK, Museumsplatz 1/5, 1070 Vienna.

Friday, December 6^th, is dedicated to more specialized issues that concern all airports in the region, i.e. how to keep up Cybersecurity at airports as critical infrastructure (with Patrick Humme, Information Security Officr at Vienna Airport) and how to develop an AirportCity (with Wolfgang Scheibenpflug, Head of Real Estate Management at Vienna Airport), using the case of Vienna Airport and engaging in an interactive workshop with the participants, who can bring their own experiences to the discussion. The second day of the conference will provide further opportunities for networking and visiting the exhibition. After the closing remarks by Olivier Jankovec and Julian Jäger, we offer an airport tour for all interested participants.

Finally, we offer a unique tourist programme, the Vienna Weekend Special, on Friday 6^th and Saturday 7^th, including a guided City tour and a visit of famous Viennese Christmas Markets, a visit of the Albertina Museum, and an exclusive visit of the Vienna State Opera, including a performance of Puccini’s “Tosca” on Saturday evening. 

Indicative timetable (may be subject to changes):