Starting the Path to Australia and New Zealand, Fulfilling the Chapter of Cooperation

---CCAA led a delegation to visit international airports associations of Australia and New Zealand

In recent years, the China Civil Airports Association (“CCAA”) has been actively implementing the policies of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (“CAAC”) and the Ministry of Civil Affairs (“MCA”) on the promotion of “China’s civil diplomacy” by social organizations. From August 27 to August 31, 2024, Ms. Zhang Yuan, CCAA’s Secretary General, led a CCAA delegation to pay the first friendly visit to 2 airports associations in Australia and New Zealand and 3 airports in Canberra, Auckland, and Christchurch. A total of 19 people from five entities, namely Guangdong Airport Group, Western Airport Group, Hubei Airport Group, Shanxi Aviation Industry Group, and Dalian Airport Group, participated in the visit.

(Group photo of key members of the CCAA delegation with Ms. Billie Mooren, CEO of the Airports Association of New Zealand, and her colleagues)

Mr. Greg Fordham, CEO of Airports Australia, and Ms. Billie Moore, CEO of Airports New Zealand expressed their sincere welcome to the CCAA delegation. He introduced to the delegation the positioning, the size of their memberships, the service objectives, the contents of services, and the plans for the future development of the two airports associations in Australia and New Zealand. The person in charge of international affairs of the CCAA introduced the basic situation of the CCAA and the current development status of the six service modules, including safety services, carbon peak and carbon neutrality services, promotion and application of new technologies, service quality enhancement, group standard construction, and international exchange and cooperation. The presentation received great attention from the Australian and New Zealand Airports Association (ANZAA) and led to lively exchanges and discussions. It is agreed that there are many similarities in the association’s governance structure, member service content, business development direction, etc., and it is very worthwhile to draw closer to the next step of cooperation. In the summary of the exchange, Mr. Zhang Yuan, CCAA’s Secretary General, emphasized that it was the first time for CCAA established contact with the international airports associations in the Pacific region and the first time for the CCAA led a high-level delegation of five Chinese airports groups on a goodwill visit after the COVID-19, and that it was believed that from today onwards, a regular contact mechanism would be established between the two parties and that in-depth cooperation would be launched in the areas of safety, service, group standard building, conference activities, and the application of new technology, etc. She suggested that in 2025, the CCAA and the two airports associations of Australia and New Zealand would each establish “sister Friendship associations” and initiate working mechanisms for dialogue, mutual visits, and business cooperation. At the same time, she formally invited the airports associations of Australia and New Zealand to participate in the Global Airport Service Quality Summit (ASQ) to be held in Guangzhou, China in 2025 and the China Airport Development Conference to be held in Chengdu, China in 2026. The CEOs of the two airport associations of Australia and New Zealand reached a preliminary agreement to form a “Sister Friendship Association” next year; and were pleased to accept an invitation to attend an international conferences in China in the future.

(Speech by Mr. Zhang Yuan, Secretary-General of the CCAA, at a meeting with the airports associations of Australia and New Zealand Airports)

(Speech by Mr. Greg Fordham, CEO, Airports Association of Australia)

(Speech by Ms. Billie Moore, CEO, Airports Association of New Zealand)

(Ms. Qiao Nan, Head of International Affairs, China Civil Airports Association of China, introducing the CCAA)

During the visit, the delegation dropped by Canberra, Auckland, and Christchurch airports. Mr. Michael Thomson, Head of Canberra Airport, Mr. Scott Tasker, CEO of Auckland Airport, and Mr. Justin Watson, CEO of Christchurch Airport, received the delegation, respectively. During the visit to airports and the exchanges, five entities of the Chinese airport delegation introduced the operation and future development and construction plans of airports belonging to the Group in English, respectively; three foreign airports expressed their heartfelt admiration for the great achievements made by their counterparts in Chinese airports and introduced the special work on airport planning and construction, green management, service management, and non-navigation business, etc. The two sides interacted with each other on issues such as airport intelligent construction, green airport construction initiatives, and airport non-aviation revenue, management system, and human resources. In 2025, the CCAA will actively build a network linking platform of international regional airport associations to provide a new path for international business exchanges of Chinese airports; actively seek more international presences to enhance the international influence of China’s civil aviation; and at the same time, invite regional airport associations and international airports around the world to participate more in various comprehensive international conferences organized by CCAA in China. In the future, the CCAA will take a more “open and inclusive, participation and achievement-oriented” attitude to tell the story of China’s airports, and work hand in hand with more counterparts around the world!

(CCAA delegation visiting Canberra Airport)

(CCAA delegation exchanging with Auckland Airports at meeting)

(CCAA delegation exchanging with Christchurch Airports at meeting)

(Group photo of the entire CCAA delegation with Canberra Airport)