11 – 12 November 2026

Agenda

Day 1 | Day 2

Day 1

11th November

Day 2

12th November

View the Roundtables

8:50 – 9:00 CET

Editor's welcome

Welcome to the event! We are excited to have you join us for the Editor’s Welcome session. Get ready to hear from our editors and learn more about what to expect during our event. It’s going to be a fantastic time!

Session 1

Panel Discussion

9:00 – 9:45 CET

Managing major transformation in live airport environments

Delivering large-scale construction or renovation of existing ageing infrastructure while keeping an airport fully operational is one of the most complex challenges in the industry, whether it be upgrading baggage or check-in halls, building a completely new terminal or runway, or integrating new energy systems. This session will delve into recent major programmes, showcasing how carefully sequenced phasing, disciplined contractor co-ordination and robust operational planning can keep passengers moving and maintain service quality during years of disruption.

The discussion will highlight the techniques and tools that allow airports to modernise safely, protect revenue, and uphold the customer experience when capacity is constrained and worksites border live operations. This panel will offer valuable insights for any airport preparing to upgrade ageing infrastructure while staying open for business.

Brian Ryks

Executive Director and CEO

Metropolitan Airports Commission

Norma Click

Director of Airside / Landside Projects, Planning & Development

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)

Elisabetta Fossi

Head of Terminal, Real Estate and Cargo

Aeroporti di Roma

Chris Woodroofe

Managing Director

Manchester Airport Group

9:50 – 10:35 CET

Innovation showcase

Short, sharp presentations on the leading innovations helping airports to solve operational and passenger experience challenges, today.

Innovation Showcase

Presentation

9:50 – 10:05 CET

Computer vision and AI overlays at scale:

Unlocking throughput, security and situational awareness at ATL

As the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is leveraging computer vision technologies to improve passenger processing, enhance security, and strengthen situational awareness. This session will explore ATL’s journey from expanding biometric passenger processing through Biometric Air Exit and Enhanced Passenger Processing initiatives to deploying AI-enabled camera overlays across the airport environment. Attendees will gain practical insights into implementation challenges, lessons learned, and the foundational work required to operationalise computer vision technologies at enterprise scale.

Key discussion points

Expanding Biometric Air Exit across all international gates and airlines.

Measurable operational outcomes from Enhanced Passenger Processing initiatives.

Building the infrastructure and governance required to support enterprise-scale computer vision.

Lessons learned from deploying AI-enabled overlays across nearly 2,000 airport cameras.

Balancing AI capabilities with human expertise in operational environments.

Preparing the digital foundations for future AI-enabled airport operations.

Chris Crist

Chief Information Officer

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Innovation Showcase

Presentation

10:05 – 10:20 CET

Presentation #2 – TBC

Details coming soon

Innovation Showcase

Presentation

10:20 – 10:35

Presentation #3 – TBC

Details coming soon

Session 5

Fireside Chat

10:40 – 11:15 CET

Squeezing the lemon:

Unlocking capacity in airside operations

With runway and apron expansion constrained, and many airports operating above their flight capacity, quality of service for airlines and passengers becomes at risk with delays and congestion. The pressure is on to extract more performance from existing airside operations. This panel will explore how airports are using data, automation and decision support tools to “squeeze the lemon”, increasing movements and reducing delays while protecting safety margins.

Speakers will discuss the practical deployment of technologies such as advanced surface movement guidance and control systems (ASMGCS), arrival and departure management tools, surface metering and digital apron platforms that give a real-time view of stands, taxiways and towing operations. The conversation will also highlight how LiDAR and computer vision sensing, integrated ACDM platforms, and airside digital twins are helping operators anticipate bottlenecks, test new procedures virtually and optimise turnrounds in live environments.

Sunil Kumar Munnangi

Associate General Manager- Airport Operations & Safety

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd

Thomas Hoff Andersson

Managing Director & Group Chief Operating Officer

Munich Airport

11:20 – 11:50 CET

Coffee break & Start-Up Open Mic / Challenge labs

A chance to network with your fellow airport attendees over a coffee while listening to the elevator pitches from the shortlisted candidates from our ‘Start-up to Watch’ Award.

11:50 – 12:50 CET

Roundtables

Closed-door, invitation-only roundtable discussions for airport leaders tackling the real industry challenge topics. Discussions will be a deep-dive into a set topic of critical importance to airport leaders. Click here to read more about the roundtables. If you wish to join, please email Stacey at [email protected]

Session 6

Challenge labs

11:50 – 12:50 CET

Airport challenge labs

Airport challenge labs provide an interactive forum where airport teams present a real-world operational and strategic challenges to a room of peers and industry experts.

Designed to move beyond theory, these crowd source solution sessions foster meaningful peer-to-peer exchange, enabling airports to collectively tackle common issues, build new connections and uncover actionable solutions that can be applied across different operational contexts.

Session 7

Fireside Chat

12:55 – 13:30 CET

Ahead of the failure curve:

Building a predictive maintenance ecosystem

Airports depend on a vast network of assets that must run reliably every day, from baggage handling systems to airfield lighting and essential building services. This panel presents a detailed case study on moving from scheduled maintenance to genuinely condition-based strategies, exploring how sensors, performance analytics platforms and automated alerts can reveal degradation long before failures occur.

Speakers will discuss the practical steps involved in retrofitting legacy equipment with monitoring technology, integrating diverse data streams into a unified maintenance platform and building the organisational confidence needed to shift from reactive repairs to proactive interventions. The session will also highlight measured results, including reductions in unplanned outages, smoother baggage flows and more resilient airfield operations.

Paul Puopolo

Chief Commercial officer & Chief Security Officer

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)

Ralph Struck

Senior Vice President Technical & Infrastructural Facility Management

Berlin Brandenburg Airport

Maurice Jenkins

Chief Innovation Officer

Miami International Airport

Session 8

Fireside Chat

13:35 – 14:00 CET

Designing smoother airport journeys through data-driven insights

As passenger expectations rise and capacity remains constrained, airports are looking to data as the key to delivering more personalised, seamless journeys. This session explores how airports can turn fragmented operational and customer data into targeted interventions that improve passenger satisfaction and increase spend.

Speakers will examine how to combine data from touchpoints such as booking, Wi-Fi, mobile apps, retail, security and wayfinding systems, and then use analytics, segmentation and personas to shape the experience in the moment. The discussion will cover practical applications including tailored information and offers, proactive disruption communications, dynamic wayfinding and crowd management, as well as the governance, privacy and organisational changes required to put data-driven personalisation into practice.

Brian Cobb

Chief Innovation Officer

Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky International Airport

George Ioannou

Director of Digital Innovation

King Salman International Airport

Session 9

Fireside Chat

14:05 – 14:40 CET

Planning airport infrastructure amid uncertainty:

Future fuels, flexibility and resilient energy systems

Airports are being asked to invest ahead of demand to enable airline climate transition, yet there remains material uncertainty over the pace and mix of solutions from sustainable aviation fuels, electric, hydrogen and efficiency-driven fleet renewal.

The operational challenge is designing and staging long-life infrastructure such as fuel systems, energy supply, safety and emergency response capability, and land-use planning that is flexible enough to accommodate multiple transition pathways, without locking in stranded assets or constraining airline choice.

This session will examine where commercial, operational and regulatory interests genuinely conflict and how energy infrastructure and master planning are critical tools to navigating this uncertainty.

Thomas Romig

Chief Operations Officer

Masterise Group

John Nilsson

Strategy Manager battery-electric and hydrogen aircraft

Swedavia AB

14:40 CET

Farewell lunch and handover ceremony

Session 10

Presentation

15:25 – 16:10 CET

Challenge presentation segment

Innovation showcase: 3x 15-minute standalone presentations

Computer vision and AI overlays at scale: unlocking throughput, security and situational awareness at ATL

Key discussion points

Expanding Biometric Air Exit across all international gates and airlines.
Measurable operational outcomes from Enhanced Passenger Processing initiatives.
Building the infrastructure and governance required to support enterprise-scale computer vision.
Lessons learned from deploying AI-enabled overlays across nearly 2,000 airport cameras.
Balancing AI capabilities with human expertise in operational environments.
Preparing the digital foundations for future AI-enabled airport operations.

Chris Crist

Chief Information Officer

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Moderator

Chris Crist

Chief Information Officer

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

16:10 – 16:15 CET

Close

18:00 – 21:00 CET

TBC

Session 10

Presentation

15:25 – 16:10 CET

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Agenda

Editor's welcome

Managing major transformation in live airport environments

Innovation showcase

Computer vision and AI overlays at scale:

Unlocking throughput, security and situational awareness at ATL

Presentation #2 – TBC

Presentation #3 – TBC

Squeezing the lemon:

Unlocking capacity in airside operations

Coffee break & Start-Up Open Mic / Challenge labs

Airport challenge labs

Ahead of the failure curve:

Building a predictive maintenance ecosystem

Designing smoother airport journeys through data-driven insights

Planning airport infrastructure amid uncertainty:

Future fuels, flexibility and resilient energy systems

Farewell lunch and handover ceremony

Challenge presentation segment

Innovation showcase: 3x 15-minute standalone presentations

Moderator

Close

TBC

Challenge presentation segment

2025

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