Istanbul airport chief urges industry collaboration as work on triple-runway operations progresses

Istanbul airport chief executive Selahattin Bilgen is calling for greater industry co-operation to achieve more efficiency gains, as it continues participating in a programme aimed at introducing independent triple-runway operations at the airport. ”I’ve been trying to say co-operation is more important than competition in our sector,” he tells FlightGlobal, during an interview in London on 24 June. Bilgen, the airport’s former finance chief who took the helm of IGA Istanbul Airport in September last year, was speaking ahead of ACI Europe’s annual general meeting – which starts on 2 July in Istanbul. ”As a new board member of ACI Europe, I would be personally trying to support and push this idea further. It is more important to focus on this part than the competition between parties,” he says. ”As long as you are able to provide supply, filling the demand won’t be an issue. That’s why enhancing the efficiency and co-operation between the stakeholders is important in ACI, and also between IATA and ACI and Eurocontrol. “We really need to be more open to collaboration and co-operation, and there I personally believe ACI can have a facilitator role. I am talking about more data-sharing, more collaboration, more system integration – not only the airports, but the airlines and other stakeholders.”<br/>