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Adolfo Aragon serves as Senior Vice President of Universal Aviation, Universal’s global ground support division.
He is responsible for operations in 24 countries and almost 50 airports.
He also is the executive responsible for growing the network and identifying potential expansion and joint opportunities.
With Universal and the Corporate Aviation Industry, has 21 years of experience, successfully running one of the organization’s largest divisions, and has accumulated vast experience dealing with airports and many government authorities and developing all areas of ground handling business: operations, safety, customer service, and systems. When he Joined the Universal team, 20 years ago, Adolfo came on board with a Business degree and 8 years background in the airline ground handling industry.
He has been fundamental in our processes, improving the network with international certifications, creating joint ventures with partners, starting handling operations from the beginning and lately developing and operating General Aviation terminals.
Adriana Echandi is the CEO of Morpho Travel Retail, a Britt Group company dedicated to creating unique in-store and in-restaurant experiences in Hotels and Airports, especially in Latin America. Adriana began her professional career in 2001, when Café Britt decided to create a new company to manage the gift stores, starting as a salesperson and quickly promoted as part of the leadership team. Adriana oversaw different internal processes such as training, purchasing, logistics, innovation, e-commerce and the expansion plan to achieve a footprint of 11 countries, 186 locations and over 1600 people. During these 20 years working at Morpho Travel Retail, she has promoted different programs that give local artisans the opportunity to innovate their techniques and tell the stories behind the products and promote the cultural heritage. Adriana is passionate about different countries, cultures and their gastronomy. Married in 2011 and mother of two children aged 8 years and 3 years.
Alejandro Restrepo is a lawyer from Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá, Colombia, 2005) with legal studies from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Madrid, Spain, 2003) and a Master’s Degree in Aeronautics and Space Law from McGill University (Montreal, Canada, 2009). Mr. Restrepo has practiced law for prestigious law firms in Colombia and served as Legal Director of the Colombian Air Transport Association. He subsequently joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA), previously in the areas of safety and facilitation, and currently holds the position of Manager of Government Relations and Sustainability for the Americas, based in Miami. He is responsible for leading the association’s efforts with national authorities with respect to legislative and regulatory development, industry taxation, industry and tourism recovery, slot coordination, consumer protection, accessibility, and the environment.
Andreu Carbonell is an Aeronautical Engineer, Master in Air Transport Management at Cranfield and MBA at ESADE. Mr. Carbonell accumulates +12 years of professional experience in the aviation industry. As an expert in air transport and managing partner of Flare Aviation Consulting, Andreu has advised the main stakeholders in the industry, including airport operators, airlines, governments, financial institutions and investment funds on growth projects, strategy and analytics.
Mr. O´Brian is an internationally experienced airport leader who is currently the CEO of Reach Airports LLC. the U.S.-based joint venture between Munich Airport International’s (MAI) US holding and the Carlyle Airport Group (CAG) Holdings.
Prior to joining Reach Airport earlier this summer, Andrew had been part of a global team of lenders, investors, developers and engineers to finance, build and operate a brand new Greenfield international airport in the city of Quito, at 2700 meters in the high Andes Mountains of Ecuador. The airport today provides 9,000 full time jobs to the community with hundreds of millions of dollars of direct and indirect impact to the city and the country; while passenger air service and cargo has grown year on year since opening in 2013.
Under his leadership, the Quito Airport has received close to 30 industry and passenger awards including consecutive accolades as South American´s Leading Airport from World Travel Awards, Best Regional Airport and the 4 stars qualification from Skytrax for the past 4 years. In 2020, the Quito Airport will receive the 5 starts Skytrax qualification making it the first and only airport in the Americas region to have this distinction and be part of an elite group of airports in the world recognized for their efficiency and service level.
Before joining QUIPORT, Mr. O’Brian was CEO of AERODOM in the Dominican Republic; a challenging package of 6 airports with significant political risk to multilateral lenders, investors and substantial capital investment programs wrapped in to a volatile Latin American business environment.
Andrew is currently the President of the Airports Council International (ACI) Latin America / Caribbean – Regional Board that represents the interests of 69 operators present in more than 275 airports in 34 countries in the region. He also sits on the ACI World Governing Board.
Mr. O´Brian is a sought-after speaker in several industry conferences. He holds an MBA with a specialization in Aviation from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal, a Diploma in International Management from Vancouver’s Capilano University and a BA in Political Science from British Columbia’s University of Victoria.
Arturo has been a US and global airport management leader for over 20 years combining experiences in airport operations, engineering, development/planning, and ground handling. This experience includes having worked for global airport operators such as Munich Airport and Aena Aeropuertos, the ground handling company Acciona Airport Services and the airport global trade group Airports Council International (ACI) World. At ACI World, he was in charge of leading and coordinating airport operating standards and best practices, including directing the ACI Airport Service Quality (ASQ) program. In his current role, he oversees Avports’ operations, maintenance and management services delivered by a team of over 600 employees at ten airport locations in the US.
As part of the international team of Munich Airport, he was involved in developing the operating and transition plans for the O&M contract to manage the new Terminal One (formerly Terminal A) at Newark Airport and the P3 contract to manage the new Terminal One at JFK Airport. Arturo is a member of ACI World Passenger Facilitation Committee, and an airport industry thought leader having published and contributed to major trade publications and reports such as ACRP, Airport World and the Journal of Airport Management. He is also a frequent speaker at major industry conferences, including on the future of aviation such as urban, air and ground mobility, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL), electric aviation, unmanned aerial systems/drones and autonomous vehicles.
He holds an International Airport Professional and Aviation Security Professional Management (AVSEC-PM) accreditations from Airports Council International (ACI) and ICAO’s airport management program, and a diploma from Concordia University’s ACI Airport Executive Leadership program.
Arturo holds a BS and master’s degree in aeronautical engineering, specializing in airport management and design.
Aytan Mastaliyeva is in charge of Sales and Account Management at TAV Technologies since 2021, leading IT developments at airports in Europe, the Americas, and CIS regions.
Aytan pioneered the first TAV Technologies footprint in the region and established outstanding customer relationships. Her areas of expertise are Travel IT, Finance, Payments IT, Cloud, and Outsourcing. She speaks 5 languages fluently. She is a highly motivated, passionate, goal-oriented team player and results-driven professional, who has the raw entrepreneurial drive with a proven ability to deliver sales and marketing success in a highly competitive market.
Prior joining to TAV Technologies Aytan oversaw Sales and Account Management at Amadeus since 2011. Aytan has a bachelor’s degree in Finance, Marketing, and Management from Nice University, followed by an M.B.A. degree in Sales and Marketing.
Carlos Arto es el Director Regional comercial Latinoamérica y Canadá para Collins Aerospace.
Carlos tiene más de 35 años de experiencia en tecnología para la industria aeronáutica y aeroportuaria.
Carlos ha vivido en varios países a lo largo de su carrera: España, Canadá, Brasil, Chile y ahora está basado en México.
Currently General Manager of Lagardere Travel Retail Peru, Cyril Letocart began his career with the French group Lagardere 10 years ago as Head of Business Development for the Middle East and Africa, during which time he also managed duty-free and restaurant openings in Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Gabon. In 2019, he took the position of Business Development Director for Latin America and with his team successively won the management of operations at Lima and Santiago Airports. Likewise, in January this year, Lagardere Travel Retail started operations at Lima Airport with 3000m² of duty-free stores, and in February, opened 5 restaurants at Santiago de Chile Airport.”
Daniel Ketchibachian es CEO de Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 desde septiembre de 2019. Antes de ocupar este rol, fue Gerente General del Aeropuerto de Ezeiza a partir de julio de 2017. Durante los siete años anteriores, se desempeñó en Brasil, donde primero fue Director Comercial y luego, Presidente de Consórcio Inframerica, empresa administradora de los aeropuertos de Brasilia (20 millones de pasajeros) y de Natal (3 millones de pasajeros). Anteriormente, ocupó el cargo de Director Comercial en el Aeropuerto de Armenia y, poco después, fue nombrado CEO de Duty Paid Argentina, empresa operadora del retail de los principales aeropuertos del país. Previo a su desembarco en Brasil, fue CCO de las operaciones comerciales en los aeropuertos de la Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador y Armenia.
Daniel es licenciado en Administración de Empresas de la Universidad de Buenos Aires y posee un MBA por la Universidad ORT Uruguay
Elbson is the Vice President of SITA for Latin America and Caribbean and oversees the company’s strategy and business results across the more than 20 countries in the region, leading the area of sales and relationship with customers and partners. His expertise includes General Management, Strategy, P&L, Sales, Business Development and Innovation. With over 20 years of experience, Elbson has also worked with companies such as Sabre, IBM, Indra and Atech (Group Embraer). Elbson holds a MBA from the University of Texas – USA, Masters in Computer Science from Unicamp and Bachelor of Computer Science from the Federal University of Viçosa.
Mi formación está vinculada con el mundo de la comunicación, el marketing y las relaciones públicas, ámbitos en los que me desarrollé antes de iniciar mi etapa profesional en Global Exchange. Y aquí comenzó mi vínculo con el mundo aeroportuario y de la aviación hace algo más de 8 años. Desde entonces he tenido un importante desarrollo y aprendizaje sobre el retail y los servicios de cambio de moneda en aeropuertos, especialmente durante los últimos 5 años, cuando me incorporé al Departamento de Expansión. Esta promoción fue un paso decisivo en mi carrera porque me ha aportado la posibilidad de adquirir una visión más estratégica del grupo, tener un conocimiento más amplio del negocio y mantener contacto directo con aeropuertos de todo el mundo liderando la expansión internacional de la compañía. Desde mediados de 2021 formo parte también del Comité de Dirección de la empresa. Así mismo, represento a los World Business Partners de LAC como Vice Chair dentro del Advisory Board desde enero de este año.
With over 20 years’ experience in the aviation industry Esther Kromhout, heads up the Aviation Team of Royal HaskoningDHV under the well-established brands of NACO and InterVISTAS. In her current role of Director Business Unit she leads more than 200 multi-disciplinary airport consultants of over 40 nationalities.
Esther’s expertise spans management of complex airport projects, extensive civil engineering knowledge, and sustainable airport development. She is passionate about innovative approaches that will spearhead aviation’s transition to net zero.
Esther has worked on a wide variety of projects, in various cultures and countries. Her portfolio includes secondments at clients such as the Government of Gibraltar and a four-year tenancy at the Aruba Airport Authority.
Having spent over 4 years with her family on the “one happy island”, Esther is particularly close to the Latin American and Caribbean community and is enthusiastic about contributing to the region’s development and prosperit.
Ezequiel Barrenechea es el presidente del Consejo Internacional de Aeropuertos en América Latina y el Caribe (ACI-LAC) para un período de dos años (comenzando en noviembre 2021). Se desempeña como Director de Corporación América, el mayor holding privado de aeropuertos en el mundo. Preside, para la corporación el Aeropuerto José Joaquín de Olmedo de Guayaquil y el Aeropuerto Ecológico de Galápagos. Su experiencia profesional destaca su trayectoria en proyectos aeroportuarios para los sectores públicos y privados desde hace más de 20 años.
Holds a BD in International Trade (Magna Cum Laude) by UDE University, Montevideo, Uruguay.
Over 20 years of experience in private sector, always in major companies in the services industry.
In 2012 joins Carrasco Intl. Airport team as a Procurement Manager, moving in 2016 to operations, first as PX Manager, and in 2020 as Operations and Passenger Experience Manager.
In the last 4 years, Mr. Cabrera leaded the transformation of Carrasco Intl. in a passenger-centered airport, over the EASY AIRPORT project, reaching impressive goals, such as:
+ First biometric boarding airport in Latin America.
+ Carrasco Intl. was awarded in 2019 with the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Award for Best Airport by Size and Region (2 to 5 million passengers per year in Latin America and Caribbean)
+ Carrasco Intl. earned in 2020 the ACI Customer Experience Accreditation – Level 1.
+ Carrasco Intl. achieved in 2020 the AHA – ACI Airport Health Accreditation programme.
+ Over 98% of passengers wait less than 10 minutes in the security checkpoint & over 90% in the passport control checkpoint (consistently in the last four years).
Mr. Cabrera is Member of:
+ ACI WORLD Facilitation & Services Standing Committee
+ ACI LAC Security, IT & Services Standing Committee
+ UDE University International Trade teaching staff
Partner en Bleett, el startup que está transformando el canal conversacional entre grandes organizaciones y sus usuarios.
Fue Co Fundador de 140minutos http://140min.com.ar/, un foro de innovación orientado a crear sinergía entre sus participantes y a generar un impacto positivo en la sociedad.
Fue Ex Secretario de Innovación y Transformación Digital en Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Y además, durante la primera etapa de la pandemia, desarrolló una herramienta para atender las consultas de los vecinos. Fue nombrado coordinador general Covid.
Tiene un MBA del IAE – Business School, es Abogado recibido en la Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) y Técnico en Marketing del Instituto Levy MKTG.
Gonzalo Ibarra (Msc. Cranfield University), General Director of Ibarra Aero Charges, and leading subject matter expert on airport charges.
For over 18 years Gonzalo has advised engineering companies, development banks, civil aviation authorities and airport operators on operations, costing, revenues, market assessments, technical and financial feasibility studies.
Gonzalo is an International Civil Aviation Organization expert, frequent conference speaker, workshop leader and visiting lecturer. Passionate about airports and air transport, Gonzalo’s works with airport operators, airlines, civil aviation authorities and travelers around the world to balance the airport charges process.
Jared Harckham’ s expertise is drawn from 35 years in aviation, travel and tourism, first as a senior airline planner and more recently as a consultant.
Since joining ICF, via SH&E, Jared has directed client projects for airports, airlines and tourism entities.
Airport work includes connectivity strategy, forecasting, transactions and customer experience for clients around the world, from greenfield to major hubs. For airlines, projects involve strategy, network/fleet planning, JV/alliances, restructuring and transactions.
Jared initiated ICF’s integrated tourism offering which links air connectivity with tourism strategy, positioning and branding/communication. This ICF group has supported public sector DMOs and private sector tourism clients around the world.
Jared joined ICF having served as Chief Planning Officer at Aeromexico and began his career at a major U.S. carrier.
Responsible for CANSO’s initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean, Mr Vanegas represents the interests of CANSO and its Members to promote and facilitate the development of ATM in the region. He also represents CANSO and the ATM industry across the region with governmental and industry bodies. Mr. Vanegas is the Regional Aviation Safety Group – Pan America Industry Co-Chair.
Before joining CANSO, Mr Vanegas spent five years at Enaire’s Air Navigation International Development Department, responsible of managing the financial/economic environment of projects such as SESAR, EGNOS and other project participated by Enaire at an international level.
Mr Vanegas also worked in EADS-CASA (currently Airbus Military) in Madrid, Spain; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, JFK Int. Airport operations units and the Port Authority of NY and NJ HQs at the Customer Services and Standards Aviation Department; the Lee County Port Authority, Southwest Florida International Airport at the Customer Service and Standards unit.
Mr Vanegas holds a bachelor’s degree of Science in Aviation Administration from State University of New York Farmingdale, New York, USA and a Master Degree in Airport Systems from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Aeronautical Engineering School.
Born in 1975, Joffrey holds a Master of Sciences in Chemistry and a Master of Sciences in Environment, in the Faculty of Science in Orsay (PARIS XI) France.
He began his career in 2001 in the automotive industry (RENAULT Group) where he held various positions providing Environmental, Health and Safety management support for 45 manufacturing plants worldwide. In 2012, Joffrey is appointed Head of the Environmental Department of RENAULT Group for the manufacturing.
He joined the Technical Department of VINCI Airports in 2014 as Environmental Manager. He’s in charge of defining the Environmental Strategy, and providing support to the airports for its implementation.
Joost Meijs is the Chief Executive Officer of Aruba Airport Authority N.V. since September 2019. Prior to working in Aruba, Mr. Meijs was for 11 years the Chief Executive Officer of Eindhoven Airport N.V. in the Netherlands. Prior to working in the aviation sector, Mr. Meijs had several senior management positions in the exposition & trade fair industry at VNU Exhibitions Europe in the Netherlands and at Jaarbeurs Brasil Ltda in Brazil. Mr. Meijs is an experienced Chief Executive Officer with over 20 years of experience in senior leadership and board positions (as executive and nonexecutive). Mr. Meijs graduated from the Economic Faculty at the University of Groningen.
COMING SOON ….
– B.A. in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires.
– Master’s Degrees in Project Evaluation, Public Services Regulation and Transportation Policies and Planning.
– Manager of Economic Regulation of ORSNA since 2007.
– Vice-president of the Association of Airport Management Technicians.
Graduated in Engineering, with 2 MBAs (Marketing and Finance), an Advanced Management Program from Fundação Dom Cabral and INSEAD, and certified as a Board Member by IBGC, Kleber is a generalist executive with 30 years of experience in business management and restructuring.
With success and experience in different segments (Engineering, Oil and Gas, Telecom, Software Development and Mobile Solutions and Logistics & Transport), Kleber has worked in national and multinational companies and in startups, such as: Mendes Junior, Shell, Intelig Telecom, Grupo Libra and Grupo CCR.
Considered a modern executive, focused on results and with the ability to inspire and lead people, Kleber assumed the position of CEO of the BH Airport Concessionaire, in Dec/20, with the mission of transforming Belo Horizonte International Airport into the main reference in Brazil.
Laia Barbarà is the Aviation Decarbonisation Lead at the World Economic, working to achieve net-zero flying through public-private cross-sectoral partnerships. She is an Aeronautical Engineer by training and holds a PhD in Climate Change. Laia counts with experience supporting the transition to net-zero emissions within the UN system and across the public, private and academic sectors.
Lorenzo Di Loreto, MAI´s Senior VP Business Development & Service Delivery, has more than 18 years of professional experience in driving business development and operations management for leading aviation companies around the world, including Samsung C&T, Airbus, Royal Air Maroc and Air France. Lorenzo has been a major contributor to MAI’s growth over the past six years, with significant impact on market positioning, revenue performance, operational improvements as well as the overall transformation of the business and competitive mind-set.
Lorenzo has played an important role in the expansion of MAI´s business and service offerings into management and O&M projects.
Lorenzo is an active member of Munich Airport´s R&D Committee, and has been working as advisor to the Board of Directors of ACI-LAC for more than a year.
Luis Felipe joined ACI World as Director General in June 2020 bringing with him vast experience in commercial and technical aviation.
He successfully led the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) between October 2017 and May 2020, promoting positive change in the organization. Prior to joining ALTA, Luis Felipe served as World Fuel Services’ Vice President Supply Development for Latin America and Caribbean where he was responsible for improving World Fuel’s aviation fuel business in the region.
For 10 years, Luis Felipe served IATA, leading fuel and airport campaigns with governments, oil companies, fuel service providers and airports for the Americas, Africa and the Middle East regions, based in Switzerland. He also served 12 years at Shell with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa and Europe, based in The Netherlands.
He is a Chemical Engineer and graduated from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and has a postgraduate qualification in Finance from the University of São Paulo, an MBA from Dom Cabral Foundation in São Paulo, and Post MBA from Kellogg University in Chicago.
Manuel es el Director de Experiencia del usuario en Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 desde 2017. Trabajó como Director de Customer Experience, Marketing y Comunicación en Thinkplant S.A. y Director de Desarrollo de Negocios para Corporación América. Antes de eso fue Gerente General de Savary S.A., Gerente General de Shop Gallery (Duty Paid S.A.), Gerente de Marketing de Duty Free Shop Argentina (Interbaires S.A.), General Manager en el Armenia Duty Free Shops, Jefe Comercial del Duty Free Shop de Argentina (Interbaires S.A.) y trabajó para Avon como Product Councellor South American Cluster.
Manuel es Licenciado en Administración de Empresas de la UCA, tiene una especialización en Marketing de Harvard, un certificado de Stanford University y de IATA en Aviation Management y realizó un Seminario en Design Thinking and the Art of Innovation en Stanford DSchool
COMING SOON …
Airport Director of Toscana Aeroporti S.p.A., Mariano Mobilia is an Aeronautical Engineer with over 20 years of experience in the fields of operations, maintenance, cargo operations, and airport planning. Vast expertise in the leadership of interdisciplinary work teams and proven capability working alongside government regulatory agencies throughout Latin America during the airport privatization process.
As part of Corporacion America, Mariano has been involved in different concessions, taking on a key responsibility for the integral process of design, build, and start-up of operations in new Terminals both in Brasilia and Montevideo. In Argentina he was involved in the development of several airport projects for the 35-airport concession, proposing changes that optimize and streamline operations through digitalization of processes for all airport stakeholders.
Martin Eurnekian is Chief Executive Officer of Corporación América Airports, the chairman of AA2000, and the ACI World Governing Board Chair. He is also a member of the boards of directors of the airport operating companies controlled by the group. Martin has more than 15 years of experience in managing diverse businesses in seven different countries, primarily Latin America as well as Europe. He has led the processes associated with evaluating, acquiring, and constructing (or re-modeling) many of the company’s airports. He holds an Engineering degree in Information Technology from Universidad de Belgrano, Argentina.
Matias Souza is SITA’s Sales Director for the Southern Cone (Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay), responsible for the relationship and development of SITA’s customers in the region, promoting long term alliances and partnerships with the company. He brings more than 15 years of experience in the Technology market, among which 10 years in Corporación América group developing airports and 4 years in SITA leading the Southern Cone region, in addition to experience in Telecom Argentina and Telmex. With a degree in Business Administration, Matias is based in Buenos Aires.
2003-2004: ENAIRE- DIRECCIÓN DE TRÁNSITO AÉREO
EXPERTO EN INGENIERÍA DE NAVEGACIÓN AÉREA
1999-2003: AENA
COMITÉ DE DIRECCIÓN DEL AEROPUERTO DE LANZAROTE. RESPONSIBLE DE OPERACIONES Y SERVICIOS AEROPORTUARIOS.
1995-1999: AENA- AEROPUERTO DE MADRID/BARAJAS
COMITÉ DE DIRECCIÓN DEL AEROPUERTO. RESPONSIBLE DE OPERACIONES DEL CAMPO DE VUELOS
1993-1995: AENA- AEROPUERTO DE FUERTEVENTURA
COMITÉ DE DIRECCIÓN DEL AEROPUERTO DE LANZAROTE. RESPONSIBLE DE OPERACIONES Y SERVICIOS AEROPORTUARIOS.
COMING SOON…
Doctor in Law Summa Cum Laude from Universidad Iberoamericana, Dominican Republic, 1999. Master of Laws from University of Utrecht, the Netherlands in 2000 and in 2003 a Master of Las from The University of Chicago Law School. In 2017 obtained from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Spain the equivalent to a Juris Doctor degree.
Ms. Infante has been a law professor, both at the bachelor and master’s levels, at Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra and Universidad Iberoamericana. She is the Director of Public Economic Law master’s degree at Instituto OMG, Dominican Republic.
Ms. Infante was awarded the “Microsoft Award” for Law and Economics Research by the University of California, Berkeley for her paper Economic Analysis on the Right of Property: The leasing regime. She was also awarded the “Robert D. Cooter Award” by the Latin American and Iberian Law & Economics Association (ALACDE).
She was president from 2017 to 2019 of the Board of Directors of the Latin American and Iberian Association of Law and Economy (ALACDE). Three-term member of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM). She currently is the president of the Santo Domingo Tourism Cluster, the Franco-Dominican Chamber of Commerce and Industry and is a member of the Board of Directors and of the Executive Committee of Airports Council International-Latin America (ACI-LAC).
She was an associate at Steel Hector & Davis Peña Prieto Gamundi and Squire Sanders & Dempsey (now Squire Patton Boggs). From 2009 to 2011 she was Legal Director of Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI, S.A. (AERODOM). Since 2012 holds the position of CEO of the company.
Peter Cerdá is the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Regional Vice President for the Americas. Globally, IATA represents some 290 airlines or 82% of total air traffic, supporting many areas of aviation activity and helping to formulate industry policy on critical aviation issues.
Based in Miami, Mr. Cerdá oversees 35 countries with 48 member airlines across North and South America, and the Caribbean, driving IATA’s global standards and international perspective to deliver maximum value to the safe, sustainable and profitable development of aviation across the region.
He advocates with Government authorities, safety regulators, airports, and industry stakeholders to create a common approach to utilize aviation as an engine of economic growth and social development, which drives nearly USD$1,011 billion in GDP and generates 14.5 million jobs in the Americas Region.
He is a member of the Strategic Leadership Team of IATA, which sets the strategic direction for the organization. Mr. Cerdá is also IATA’s major shareholder for Cargo Network Services (CNS) in the United States, and a member of the Executive Boards of Colombia’s Air Transport Association (ATAC) and Mexico’s National Chamber of Air Transport (CANAERO).
Mr. Cerdá possesses a wealth of industry experience acquired over 30 years in aviation. He has worked in various functions for IATA and started his aviation career with Iberia Airlines prior to joining IATA in 1996. Fluent in English and Spanish, Mr. Cerdá was born in Spain and received his master’s degree in Aeronautics and Aviation Management from Embry Riddle University in the United States.
Rafael Alcocer. Regional Manager Spain and Latin América. DFS AVIATION SERVICES.
Rafael is a former Air Traffic Controller and current university professor at the Technical University of Madrid (Spain). Rafael has extensive experience in training; He has coordinated and delivered many courses for Air Navigation Service Providers and international organizations including IATA, EASA and ICAO. Latest milestones in his career include a Master Degree on Aviation Human Factors (Coventry University) with thesis on Remote Towers; his Psychology Doctorate studies, ICAO USOAP and CISM courses. He recently conducted a human factors assessment on the implementation of Remote Tower Centres. Rafael is part of the team in charge of implementing the new Apron Management services at Jorge Chavez international airport.
Rafael Echevarne is the Director General of Airports Council International – Latin America and the Caribbean (ACILAC). Previously he was CEO of Montego Bay Airport, Jamaica, and held positions in international organizations and airport companies in Europe, Australasia and the Middle East, specialising in airport economic regulation, privatisation and infrastructure and business development.
Rafael holds a PhD in Air Transport Economics from Cranfield University, UK.
Raúl Revuelta Musalem, is currently the CEO of the Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico, He has more than 20 years of experience in the infrastructure sector and is an expert in the airport sector. From 2005 to 2015, he worked at Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP), serving as CFO and Commercial Director. During his professional career, he has also served as General Director of Cross Border Xpress (CBX) and as Deputy Director of Finance of the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT). In his six years as Deputy Director of the SCT, he has participated in different privatization processes in the transportation sector, obtaining extensive experience in federal concessions. He has a degree in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM).
Rene Riedi was the Divisional CEO Latin America & Caribbean at Dufry AG before he was named Executive Advisor Central & Latin America in Sept 2020.
Previously and prior to his transfer to the United States, Rene Riedi served in a variety of positions at Dufry, including Chief Operating Officer Retail Region Eurasia & Asia, with executive responsibilities for all retail activities in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, CIS and Asia / Pacific, Chief Operating Officer of Global Agencies and Director Group Product Marketing. He was a member of the Group Executive Committee since 2000 and joined the company in 1993.
Prior to Dufry, Rene Riedi worked for a number of years in sales and product marketing of a multinational FMCG group.
Rene holds a degree in Business Administration from the School of Economy and Business Administration Zurich.
Ricardo Gesse is CEO of Zurich Airport Brasil, a company that holds 100% of the concession of the Florianópolis, Macaé, and Vitória airports.
Gesse has high experience in the aviation sector. He has held leadership positions in airlines and airports. In Florianópolis, He was a COO at the beginning of Zurich Airport administration, from January 2018 to December 2019, when became CEO. During this period, He was responsible for the complex process of transferring the operation (Orat) between the old terminal to the new international terminal, which opened in October 2019.
In 2020, Gesse led the unification of management for the airports Florianópolis, Macaé and Vitória. Under his management, Florianópolis International Airport became the best in Brazil and Vitória Airport, the third best in the country, according to the current official survey by the Federal Government of Brazil, carried out among the 20 largest terminals in the country.He has a degree in Economics, with specializations in Marketing, Quality Management, and Processes.
Ruud Ummels is owner and director of To70 Aviation, a world-leading aviation consultancy, with offices in Sao Paulo and Bogota. Ruud is an acclaimed airport planning and operations expert. He has led over 250 consultancy projects in over 30 countries. Through these projects he has helped deliver significant growth at airports such as Amsterdam Schiphol, London Gatwick, Melbourne and Singapore Changi. In the region he is currently working in Lima and Bogota. Looking at Advanced Air Mobility, To70 is working closely with Urban Blue in Rome, Skyportz in Australia and the Future Flight Challenge in the UK. Mainly on regulatory approval and airspace related topics. Furthermore, Ruud is the elected representative for Europe in the World Business Partner Advisory Board of ACI.
Sarah Procter is Chief Commercial Officer at Copenhagen Optimization, a combined software, and consultancy company helping airports optimize their operations using Better Airport® Saas. Sarah is an accomplished conference speaker and panelist. Furthermore she has chaired several conferences during the years. She started her career in Sales with PepsiCo UK in 2003 and relocated to Denmark in 2006, joining Copenhagen Airports A/S. Sarah worked at Copenhagen Airports for nine years, holding various positions, including Director of Real Estate and Senior Route Development Manager Americas & MiddleEast. In 2015 Sarah joined the leading 3D-4D-5D Enterprise software company RIB working with world-leading design and construction firms to lead with digital twin and industry 4.0. Sarah graduated with a BA. Honors from Kingston University, London, with a degree in Business Economics and has since completed a Higher Diploma (HD 2.) in International Business at Copenhagen International Business School and, more recently started an MBA having completed the first Certificate in Business Administration from AVT Business School.
Sebastián Pinchinatti began his professional career back in 1999 in SITA, supporting the operation and engineering for the carriers, such as Aerolineas Argentinas, British Airways Plc and Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
He moved to Brazil in 2003 and he was the Business Development Manager for Latin America and Caribbean markets. From 2003 held numerous executive positions and has a wide range of experience in the aviation and travel industry, then joined Amadeus as a Business Development Director for the Latin American & Caribbean region.
Mr. Pinchnatti, has over twenty years of extensive expertise as Senior Executive in the business areas of Airlines, Airports, Government, Flight Operations, Cargo, Air Navigation Services Providers (ANSP), Civil Aviation Authorities (CAA), and Industries bodies.
He has a truly and strong aviation & travel industry expertise, working across the different stakeholders in the air transport industry, with his focus being on driving the company’s growth under his leadership.
GOL´S Safety & Flight Operations Senior Advisor and Chairman of the Safety & Operations Committee.
Head of eVTOL project implementation and Joint Working Group with Avolon and Vertical Aerospace.
Former Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) from February 2014 until March 2019.
More than forty years of Airline Operations, Safety and Human Factors professional experience.
At GOL Group since 2004, began as Boeing 737-800 NG Flight Instructor, being responsible for Line Operations Safety Audit (LOSA) Program (2006), IOSA certification (2008) and Safety Management Systems implementation (2010).
Still current as a B737 NG captain, experience of 43 years in Airlines, accumulated around 20.000 hours of flight time, in narrow and wide bodies’ airliners.
Bachelor degree in International Affairs, Catholic University of São Paulo, 2005.
Aircraft Accidents Investigator by CENIPA – Brasil, 2006.
IATA Operations Committee member since 2010, Vice-Chairman until June 2019.
Former Chairman of IATA´s Safety & Fight Operations B737 MAX Task Force.
Sergio Tomasella is a Mechanical Production Engineer, MBA and Specialist in Continuous Improvement Implementation (University of Michigan Engineering). Experienced Customer Relations Management and +15 years’ experience in Services & Support and Human-Centric solutions in aviation and aerospace industry.
Passionate about connecting people and ideas, skilled in Aircraft Maintenance, FBO, Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement and Project Management, Tomasella was responsible for Embraer Service Center Implementation in Sorocaba/BR and responsible for MRO and FBO Management.
Head of Services and Support, Tomasella collaborates at Eve Air Mobility with disruptive and innovative Urban Air Mobility aftermarket solutions through a new ecosystem and concepts for Services & Support.
Thales is an economist, currently leading the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) cooperation with the private sector in Latin America. As the Head of Business Engagement for Latin America he convenes the most consequential, relevant and mission aligned companies from the region in public-private cooperation to address global challenges. Prior to that Thales spent a decade in financial services as a portfolio manager and strategist. Thales holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and master’s degrees in Finance and Business Administration.
Licenciada en Comunicación de Walsh University, cuenta con un MBA en Recursos Humanos realizado en la USAL (Universidad del Salvador) y el Programa para Altos Directivos del IAE Business School (Universidad Austral).
Antes de su llegada a AA2000 como Directora de Recursos Humanos, Verónica fue VP Human Resources & Relaciones Laborales en DIRECTV, Directora de Recursos Humanos en Ernst & Young y anteriormente trabajó como Directora de Recursos Humanos y Calidad en Lloyds Bank, contando con una experiencia a nivel internacional en el Inglaterra.
Verónica está casada y tiene dos hijos.
