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Welcome Addresses
    Dr Kostas Iatrou, Chairperson of the ATRS 2016 Organizing Committee
    Professor Martin Dresner, President & CEO, ATRS
    Marietta Papavasileiou, Vice Governor of Tourism, Region of South Aegean
    Fotis Chatzidiakos, Mayor of Rhodes
Keynote Speech – Angela Gittens, Director General, ACI
Plenary Session 1 – Working better together
    Moderator: Vijay Poonoosamy, President, Hermes
    -Catalin Radu, Deputy Director Air Navigation, ICAO
    -Salvatore Sciacchitano, Executive Secretary, ECAC
    -Dr Dimitris Dimitriou, Board Member, Athens International Airport
    -Mariza Chatzilazarou, Deputy Mayor of Tourism, Municipality of Rhodes
    -Marietta Papavasileiou, Vice Governor of Tourism, Region of South Aegean
    -Antonis Kambourakis, President, Rodos Palace Hotel
    -Professor Martin Dresner, President & CEO, ATRS
ATRS Global Airport Benchmarking Task Force Report Award Ceremony
     Moderator: Mario Diaz, Aviation Director, Houston Airport System
     Presenter: Professor Chunyan Yu, Embry Riddle University
Plenary Session 2 – Best Practices in Airport Management
     Moderator: Professor Tae-Hoon Oum, University of British Columbia and Chairman, ATRS
    -Dr Dimitris Dimitriou, Board Member, Athens International Airport
    -Henrik Peter Jorgensen, Vice President, Communication, Copenhagen Airport
    -Richard Duncan, Assistant General Manager, Hartfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport
     -C K Ng, Executive Director, Airport Operations, Hong Kong International Airport
    -Jung June Ahn, Executive Director, Incheon International Airport Corporation
    -Mario Diaz, Aviation Director, Houston Airport System
Plenary Session 3 – OECD-ITF Session on Infrastructure and Regulation
     Moderator: Stephen Perkins, Head, OECD-ITF Joint Transportation Center
    -Alain Lumbroso, OECD-ITF

The Air Transport Research Society (ATRS) successfully concluded its 20th Anniversary World Conference in Rhodes, Greece on Sunday. This conference marked a return to Greece, following a very well-attended World Conference in Athens in 2008. Approximately 250 delegates from around the world attended the conference, with the greatest numbers coming from the USA, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

Highlights of the conference included the annual presentation of the ATRS Benchmarking Awards to the most efficient airports in the world.

Angela Gittens, the Director General of ACI World, presented the keynote address to the conference. In her speech, she highlighted the decreased charges assessed by airports over the years.  In addition, she made the case for letting airports operate with a “mature” regulatory regime in order to best allow them to achieve efficient results.

Plenary panel sessions highlighted best practices in airport management, issues in infrastructure and regulation, as well as ways the various constituents of the aviation community can work better together. A special session debated issues related to the departure of the UK from the European Union.

About 170 papers and panel sessions explored topics of interest on a variety of subjects related to air transport, including policy, strategic, regulatory and operational issues. According to Martin Dresner, ATRS President and CEO, “The ATRS World Conference in Rhodes has served as a forum to debate the latest in aviation research.  Moreover, findings from from our previous nineteen conferences have been used to guide managers in the aviation field over the past two decades. We are confident that our discussions from Rhodes will again be relevant to managers in the aviation field.”

Dr Kostas Iatrou, Chairperson of 2016 ATRS World Conference said: “For the second time in the 20 year history of ATRS, the World Conference is being held in Greece. 2016 marks the 10th anniversary of Air Transport News and the 20th anniversary of ATRS. Key people from the industry participated in the conference.”
At the conference, the ATRS named two outstanding individuals as ATRS Fellows:
-Dr. Anne Graham, Reader, from the University of Westminster and
-Mr. Mario Diaz, Director of Aviation, Houston Airport System.

The two fellows were recognized for their contributions to the ATRS as well as for their impact on the research and professional aviation communities.