Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific has appointed Emmanuel Menanteau as president of its regional board, alongside four new board members: Dato’ Iskandar Mizal Bin Mahmood, Kyung Wook Kim, Cheok Kuan Kan and Hyeong Jung Yoon.
Menanteau will hold this position from June 1, 2022, until the end of 2024. He served ACI Asia-Pacific as its first vice president, and represents airport management company Cambodia Airports, operated by Vinci Airports. The appointment was approved at the 17th ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly, which was hosted by Changi Airport Group – the operator of Changi Airport in Singapore. Seow Hiang Lee, CEO of Changi Airport Group, who served as the president of ACI Asia-Pacific for the last four years, will continue to be a member of the board as immediate past president.
The four regional board directors named at the board meeting will serve three-year terms, which will commence in June 2022. Dato’ Iskandar Mizal Bin Mahmood is the managing director of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad. Kyung Wook Kim is the president and CEO of Incheon International Airport Corporation. Cheok Kuan Kan is the executive director of Macau International Airport Company. Hyeong Jung Yoon is the president and CEO of Korea Airports Corporation.
ACI Asia-Pacific regional board director Fred Lam of Airport Authority Hong Kong was also appointed to the ACI World governing board (WGB) as the regional advisor. The WGB is currently led by Aimen Al Hosni of Oman Airports, who will continue to work with the Asia-Pacific board as a special advisor.
During the assembly, ACI Asia-Pacific members also unanimously passed a resolution urging all members to voluntarily commit to net-zero carbon emissions and develop action plans to meet this commitment by proactively undertaking necessary steps to reduce emissions by using low-carbon technologies in airport operations and infrastructure management. The resolution is consistent with the United Nations’ special report on global warming, which recommended that all sectors achieve net-zero human-caused carbon emissions by 2050.
To strengthen ACI Asia-Pacific’s international exposure, the board also approved the proposal to open a subregional office in the Middle East, which will share services and interact with the Hong Kong office. This will help ACI Asia-Pacific to customize its programs to serve members in the Middle East region.
Reflecting on his term as president, Lee said, “It has been an exceptional four years, carrying the torch, especially over the last two years of the pandemic, which has caused great disruption to airports, to say the least. I sincerely thank the board and members of ACI Asia-Pacific for their unwavering support throughout my term.
“ACI continues to be a positive force for the industry, and this has been demonstrated in our efforts to facilitate travel resumption – from advocating the use of digital Covid-19 certificates to the mutual recognition of health status for more efficient clearance of travelers across countries. This has been particularly beneficial for the reopening of travel in our region. Under Emmanuel’s strong leadership, I am confident that ACI Asia-Pacific will continue to be a strong advocate for our region, to aid travel recovery as the industry bounces back.
Commenting on his new role, Menanteau said, “I am profoundly honored to preside over ACI Asia-Pacific for the upcoming two years. We have clear objectives: supporting air traffic recovery and connectivity in the Asia-Pacific region and speeding up its sustainable transition. Following in Mr Seow Hiang Lee’s footsteps, which I congratulate for his outstanding work, we will continue to uphold high standards of excellence in airport operations while simultaneously pursuing the industry’s action plan toward net-zero emissions by 2050.”
Stefano Baronci, director general of ACI Asia-Pacific, said, “We are excited to have this group of individuals join the board and bring in their unique talents, expertise and perspectives to further our vision to promote excellence in airport management and operations. We are truly grateful to our outgoing president, Mr Seow Hiang Lee, for his outstanding contributions over the course of the last four years. We look forward to working closely with our board to further strengthen ACI Asia-Pacific’s programs across the region.”