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eaC 2023 agenda 

Day 1
09.00am

EAC Day 1 - Policy Day I
29 November 2023 
Venue: Chamber of Commerce, Kirchberg

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Opening + EAC overview
O
fficial Welcome

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09.30am

Session 1: Scene Setting Panel - Air Cargo Suddenly Under the Spotlight

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Air cargo was hardly ever the protagonist of air transport policies. Yet, the COVID-19 pandemic cast a bright light on its importance and that of logistics in general, in a way that no other policy discussion ever has managed to do.  While passenger traffic ground to a halt, all-cargo and express operators, as well as passenger planes swiftly turned into ‘preighters’, kept hospitals stocked around the world and bore the brunt of international vaccine distribution. 
Looking ahead, global geopolitical changes are upending long-held tenets on international trade, which may lead to important shifts in supply chains in the next few years, and indeed the resurgence of trade blocks and protectionism.   What does this all mean for air transport policies, and how should they adapt, especially with regard to air cargo? 
This session will explore the recent trends in air cargo during and after the pandemic, and set the scene for more detailed discussions on policy implications during the conference.

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Session Chair:  Andrew Charlton, Managing Director, Aviation Advocacy

Session Speaker: Glyn Hughes, Director General, The International Air Cargo Association

Session Speaker: Maxim Straus, CFO Cargolux
Session Speaker:
 
Chris Grames, Managing Director Product Strategy, Boeing

10.30am

Session 2: The Global Role of Air Freight in Trade

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A significant and growing proportion of international trade is now carried by air. How large is this market, and what are its components? What are, and what are likely to be the main barriers to this trade? What are the implications of greater strategic competition between trade blocs, such as China and the US/Europe? Will there be less trade, or mainly a shift in the direction of flows? To what extent will developing countries be affected? How will freight hubs such as Hong Kong, Luxemburg and Schiphol be affected?

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Session Chair: Cortney Robinson, Air Transport Officer, Air Cargo at The International Civil Aviation Organization
Session Speaker: Brian Pearce, Executive Director & Honorary Professor, UCL - Air Transport Systems Laboratory

Session Speaker: Steve Altman, Adjunct Assistant Professor and Director, Center for the Future of Management, DHL Initiative on Globalization, NYU
Session Speaker: Selcuk Gencaslan, Vice President, Cargo Revenue Management, Turkish Airlines

11.20am

Coffee break

11.40am

Session 3: Fireside Chat with ICAO on global crisis response, traffic rights, and other air cargo priorities

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Session Chair: Charles Stotler, Professor of Practice and Director, Centre for Air and Space Law, University Mississippi

Session Speaker: Mohamed Khalifa Rahma, Director, Air Transport Bureau, International Civil Aviation Organization

12.25am

Lunch Break

14.00pm

Session 4: E-Commerce and the Digital Economy - How digital transport and trade are poised to increase efficiency across the supply chain.

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Already showing robust growth pre-pandemic, the closure of physical marketplaces due to pandemic restrictions forced many consumers to transition to e-commerce solutions for daily life, thus introducing them to the digital economy. Despite economic uncertainty, e-commerce growth is now far ahead of pre-pandemic projections yet the supply chain—across all modes of transport—relies on outdated, paper-driven processes and cannot keep pace with growth without compromising safety, security and efficiency. This panel will examine how e-commerce is impacting air cargo, as well as other modes, and how stakeholders are collaborating to increase supply chain efficiency through digital transformation of information exchange, both B-to-B and B-to-G.

Questions:

  • How has e-commerce changed the air cargo landscape and what are the future prospects?

  • How does air cargo fit into the digital economy and how must the sector adapt?

  • Who benefits in digital transformation of the supply chain and what are the risks of being left behind?

  • Concerning information exchange, what are regulators requiring of other stakeholders and what must they provide?

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Session Chair: Arnaud Lambert, Chief Executive Officer, LuxProvide,
Session Speaker: Virginia Cram-Martos, CEO Triangularity, Co-Founder EnQu Ideation, UN/CEFACT Project Lead, Former Director of the UNECE Economic Cooperation and Trade Division

Session Speaker: Steven Pope, Chair of the ICC Global Trade & Investment Policy Commission and Vice President, Group Head Trade Facilitation - Go Trade, Deutsche Post DHL Group

Session Speaker: Chris McDermott, CEO, CHAMP Cargosystems
Session Speaker: Nico De Cauwer, Secretary General, International Port Community System Association

14.50pm

Session 5: Air Services Agreements

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Traditionally all-cargo services have attracted less attention and been less controversial than their passenger equivalents in international air service negotiations. This may explain why significant liberalization of all-cargo services has often preceded more general reform, for example in the United States prior to deregulation and in Europe before the creation of the EU internal aviation market. All-cargo Seventh Freedom services are also a feature of many, but certainly not all, open skies bilateral agreements. With further liberalization of passenger services apparently stalling, the question arises whether all-cargo services can again lead the way. A panel of experts in international negotiations will discuss whether this is feasible and the likelihood of success. 

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Session Chair: Barry Humphries, Aviation Consultant, BKH Aviation Ltd
Session Speaker: 
Carlos Bermejo Acosta, Head of Unit, Aviation Agreements, European Commission, DG MOVE

Session Speaker: Mark Bosly, United Kingdom Chief Air Services Negotiator, UK Department for Transport and Chair of the ICAO Air Transportation Regulation Panel

Session Speaker: Vann Chanty, Director General, General department of Air Transport Policy and Regulations, State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA). Representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Session Speaker: Roque Felizardo Da Silva Neto, Manager of Market  Access Branch at the Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil (ANAC) (representing LACAC)

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15.50pm

Coffee Break 

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16.15pm

Session 6: Emerging business models and multi-modality and supply chain integration

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The traditional models of air freight are being challenged as old models are being rethought and new market entrants with different models are emerging. Challenges to the ecosystem emerge from several directions. For instance, maritime companies, such as Maersk, are entering this segment by providing end-to-end solutions, and Amazon, who wet leases and own some freighters to serve its own operations. What are the dynamics that are likely to play out? What policy implications emerge? Is there room for everyone?

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Session Chair: Wouter Dewulf, Associate Professor, University of Antwerp 
Session Speaker: David Gillen,
Director- Professor, Centre for Transportation Studies, University of British Columbia

Session Speaker: Margi Van Gogh, Head of Supply Chain and Transport Industries, World Economic Forum

Session Speaker: Ferwin Wieringa, Global Head of Air Freight, Maersk
Session Speaker: Joachim Arts, Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, University of Luxembourg

17.00pm

Session 7: Special request from EB: Air Freight, Trade and the Global South

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This session will consider  the connection between the cargo industry and wider economic policy issues such as international trade and economic development, including from the perspective of the Global South. In recent years, the economic analysis of international trade has been extended to place more emphasis on the distributional and welfare aspects of trade. The session participants are established researchers in the trade and related areas, including in regard to Africa. The session participants have been invited to offer observations and responses, if they wish, to sessions that will have taken place earlier on Day One.

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Session Chair: Kenneth Button, University Professor Emeritus of Policy and Government, George Mason University. 

Session Speaker: Gianmaria Martini, Professor, University of Bergamo.

Session Speaker: Eric Nyoja, Reader in Air Transport and Tourism Economics, University of Huddersfield.

17.40pm

End of Day 1 (Policy day I)

18.30pm

EAC 2023 Gala Dinner, walking dinner.

Venue - LA TABLE DU BELVÉDÈRE, Kirchberg 
 

Program:

  • Perspectives on 25 years: David Gillen, Director- Professor, Centre for Transportation Studies, University of British Columbia

  • Awards session: Achim Czerny, Professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

  • Next host candidate: Wouter Dewulf, professor, University of Antwerp

Day 2
09.00am

EAC Day 2 - Policy Day II
30 November 2023

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Opening remarks and review of day 1

09.15am

Session 1: Martin Kunz Lecture - Thomas Klein, Cargolux, 'What I have learned about air cargo in the past 3 years that I did not know in the previous 30 years'

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Session Chair: Thomas Immelmann, University of Applied Sciences Bremen

Session Speaker: Thomas Klein, Vice President, business intelligence and corporate controlling, Cargolux

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10.00am

Session 2: European Air Freight: Looking back and forward

One-on-one interview with DG MOVE, Director for Aviation, Filip Cornelis and Simon Wright

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Session Chair: Simon Wright, Industry Editor - New mobility, aerospace, shipping, manufacturing, The Economist
Session Speaker: Filip Cornelis, Director for Aviation (DG MOVE Directorate E) in the European Commission

10.45am

Coffee Break 

11.15am

Session 3: A session by the International Transport Forum at the OECD: What future for the freight sector? 

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The ITF will present its long-term global freight projections for different decarbonisation scenarios, based on the modelling work underpinning the ITF Transport Outlook 2023. The focus of this presentation will be on the role of aviation in transport decarbonisation pathways. The tested scenarios will be discussed along with their implications for the global aviation sector, focusing on policy and technology. 
 

This session will feature a 20-minute ITF address followed by a Q&A with the audience.

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Session Chair: Luis Martinez, Lead Modeller, Transport Analyst, International Transport Forum (ITF), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Session Speaker: Andrea Papu Carrone, Transport Analyst and Modeller, International Transport Forum (ITF), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

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11.45am

Session 4: Air Freight and Climate Impacts

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Air cargo accounts for about 40% of world trade by value. At the same time whether belly hold or dedicated freighter, sending goods by air is many times more carbon intensive than transportation by ship, road or rail. But decarbonisation requirements do not generally distinguish between passenger and freighter aircraft. This session will firstly assess progress on Fit for 55 legislation in the EU covering the aviation sector and then explore some specific industry airfreight initiatives.    

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Session Chair: Anna Straubinger, Post-doctoral researcher, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research
Session Speaker: Marcos Gonzalez Alvarez, Deputy Head of Unit, European Commission, DG CLIMA

Session Speaker: Stefan Grebe, Manager Mobility & Transport, CE Delft
Session Speaker: Laurent Donceel, Deputy Managing Director at Airlines for Europe (A4E)
Session Speaker:
Bill Hemmings, Director, Rosetta Advisory Services

12.45pm

Lunch Break 
Intro by Jens Hujer, Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences, to the Poster Session 

Posters session as part of the break

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14.15pm

Session 5: Infrastructure and Operational Challenges in Air Cargo Logistics

 

What are current challenges and opportunities in air cargo logistics? What are lessons learned from the pandemic? How will air cargo logistics move toward lower emissions and more sustainable operations? How can European policy harmonization support developing air cargo logistics further?

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Session Chair: Anne Lange, Professor in Management, Logistics, Aviation at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences

Session Speaker: Marcus Bezold, Head of Global Handling Performance Management, Lufthansa Cargo AG

Session Speaker: Ram Menon, Chief Commercial Officer, Wallenborn Group
Session Speaker: Daniel Kohl, Director, Cluster for Logistics (C4L), Luxembourg

15.15pm

Session 6: The Scope of Drones

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Will we see cargo drones in the near future? Where is the market heading? How can these unmanned aerial vehicles co-exist in the already congested air space? 

The panel will discuss operational capabilities and business models as well as regulatory aspects to ensure continuous air space safety

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Session Chair: Benjamin Bierwirth, Professor, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences and Managing Director, Avistics GmbH
Session Speaker: Tiago Lopes, Lead Aviation Engineer, European Investment Bank

Session Speaker: Irena Deville, Director of Corporate Partnership, Dronamics

Session Speaker: Luc Antoon, UTM Manager, Skeyes belgiam ATC

Session Speaker: Vincent Pedrini, President, Luxembourg Drone Federation

16.15pm

Coffee Break

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16.45pm 

The Tretheway Debate - “Has liberalisation peaked?”

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Will trend towards greater liberalisation continue or are we going to see more government regulation of aviation – e.g., the slot reduction at AMS and govt policy on short haul travel, etc.

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Session Chair: Ian Kincaid, Senior Vice-President, Forecasting and Economics at InterVISTAS consulting 
Session Speaker: Brian Pearce, Director-Professor, University College London - Air Transport Systems Laboratory

Session Speaker: Mark Rodmell, Deputy Executive Secretary, European Civil Aviation Conference, ECAC
Session Speaker: Steven Truxal, Professor and Director, International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL), Leiden University
Session Speaker: Barry Humphreys, Aviation Consultant, BKH Aviation

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17.30pm 

Concluding Remarks
 

After 2 days of presentations, panels, and lively discussions, we will conclude with a brief summary of the man take aways from the conference, some of the lessons learned, points for future research and further pathway leading to next year’s EAC.

18.00pm 

EAC Board meeting
 

Everyone welcome

Day 3
08.00am

EAC Research Day

01 December 2023
 

Program committee members:

  • Chair: Ane Elixabete Ripoll-Zarraga, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

  • Marina Efthymiou, Dublin City University

  • Wolfgang Grimme, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR)

  • Benny Mantin, University of Luxembourg

  • Andreas Papatheodorou, University of Aegean

 

08.00-08.30am Registration

08.45am 

Plenary Session 1. Keynote: Tae Hoon Oum, University of British Columbia
 

Future transport research requirements

Views on the future transport research needs in the changing global economic and political environment accounting for aviation policy issues.

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09.15am 

Plenary Session 2. Panel Discussion: lessons learned from the Policy Days and facilitation of research agenda.

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Chair: Benny Mantin, Professor and director, Luxembourg Center for Logistics and Supply Chain Management, University of Luxembourg.

Panelists:

  • Cortney Robinson, Air Transport Officer, Air Cargo, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

  • David Gillen, Professor, Sauder Business School, University of British Columbia

  • Charles Stotler, Professor of Practice and Director, Center for Air and Space Law, University of Mississippi

  • Achim Czerny, Associate Professor, Hong-Kong Polytechnic University

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10.15am 

Coffee Break 

10.45am 

Parallel Sessions #1

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*Presenter; Presenters indicated with (PhD) will be assigned a discussant

12.25pm 

Lunch and Poster Session

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  • Doris Antczak* on Sustainable Transportation and Climate Change: Analysis of the Impact of Transportation Modes on CO2 Emissions

  • Francesca Fermi, Francesco Chricio, Davide Fiorello, Angelo Martino and Wolfgang Grimme* on The DESAT Model for Estimating Demand for Small Air Transport in Europe

  • Florian Heinitz* on Global Air Cargo Routing Model as a Research Tool and Decision Support Aid

  • Alessandro Massaro* on Slot allocation and city planning: the case of the International Airport of Antwerp (ANR) in Belgium

  • Anna Straubinger* and Sebastian Rausch on Policies for Decarbonizing the Global Aviation Market

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01.30pm 

Plenary Session 3. Keynote: EU air regulation under review: what's on the horizon?

Steven Truxal, Professor and Director, International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) at Leiden University 

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14.15pm 

Parallel Sessions #2

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*Presenter; Presenters indicated with (PhD) will be assigned a discussant

16.30pm 

The German Aviation Research Society (GARS) Annual General Meeting
End of EAC 2023

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