Today at the premises of the Aviation Administration of Kazakhstan (AAK), the representatives of ACI EUROPE met with the representatives of the Civil Aviation Committee and AAK to address the challenges facing the country in the field of sustainable development of air services and to further support the country's economy. The delegation of the European side was headed by the Director General of ACI EUROPE - Olivier Jankovic.

Airports Council International (ACI) is an organisation that represents the collective interests of airports around the world to promote excellence in the aviation industry. ACI works closely with governments, ACI regional members, experts, and international organisations, such as ICAO, to develop policies, programmes, and best practices that promote airport standards worldwide. ACI Europe has 712 members, 561 airports in 50 countries. Kazakhstan is a member of ACI Europe. It should be noted that for the airport a membership in such an organisation as ACI gives an incentive for further intensive development of the airport in all spheres of aviation activity. Co-operation with ACI will also improve the quality of passenger service and introduce the best international experience, and thus raise the prestige of Kazakhstan airports in the international community.

  During the meeting, the Director General of ACI EUROPE Olivier Jankovic noted that Kazakhstan is a rapidly developing aviation market. This is due to the country's size and geographical location, as well as the population's growing propensity to travel by air, but still largely untapped potential as a tourist destination - all of which indicate that demand for air travel will continue to grow dynamically over the next 20 years.

However, in order to fully unlock and reach the full potential, Jankovic stressed the need to modernise and further develop airports: "Of course, we are talking about the physical modernisation of airports across the country through long-term planning, development, and appropriate funding." Crucially, this requires that Kazakhstan's airports be given the opportunity to recover the costs of providing their services from the users.

The meeting participants were familiarised with the activities of Airports Council International Europe, discussed terms of trade and airport/aviation market development in Europe; regulation of airports in Kazakhstan (user charges and non-aeronautical revenues), long-term global aspirational goal and sustainable aviation fuel (LTAG & SAF), and cooperation between the EU and Kazakhstan.

At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed to continue working on further expansion of co-operation between ACI Europe and the aviation authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan.