Airports Council International Elects New Chairman

CONTACT:
Eileen Denne, edenne@aci-na.org (202) 293-4537
Megan Miller, mmiller@aci-na.org (202) 861-8080

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BUENOS AIRES, 6 November 2007 –  The annual assembly of the world's airport executives today elected James (Jim) Cherry as the new chairman of Airports Council International (ACI), the global airport trade association, to serve for a two-year term. Mr Cherry is President and CEO of Aéroports de Montreal and has served on the ACI Governing Board since 2005.

In welcoming Mr Cherry to the new post, ACI Director General, Robert J Aaronson, said, "Jim will provide essential leadership as chairman, at a critical time for ACI. His experience leading the team at Aéroports de Montreal has demonstrated a commitment to excellence in the increasingly complex field of airport management. As a World Governing Board member, he has been a great supporter of the work ACI does worldwide as the voice of the world's airports and we look forward to working with Jim closely to continue this important mission."

Mr Cherry has been President and CEO of Aéroports de Montreal (ADM) for six years, "My election as Chairman of ACI is an honour and a task that I am eager to get started on. I have been actively involved with ACI since joining ADM, and this opportunity will allow me to build upon the work done by others to help keep Airports Council International a strong and successful representative of airports on an international and regional level. We work in a dynamic industry and ACI truly has an important role of keeping airports efficient and attuned to customer needs. Airports are tremendous contributors to local, regional and world economies, providing vital infrastructure for business development in an increasingly globalised environment. ACI's world headquarters and its five regions cover the world to meet the airports' individual and common challenges."

Airports Council International members are the operators of over 1600 airports that collectively handle around 96% of the world's air passengers. ACI represents airports at a global and regional level, through close associations with the UN International Civil Aviation Organization and other international aviation bodies. ACI provides leadership, support and services to airports and their suppliers in the key priority areas of safety, security, environment, economics, customer service and efficiency. The association is headquartered in Geneva and has five regional offices in Brussels, Washington DC, Hong Kong, Merida and Casablanca.

 Jim Cherry is a Montréal native and graduate of McGill University. He is a chartered accountant who has over 25 years of experience in general management, project management and financial management in the International Aerospace, Defence and rail sectors. Over this period he has worked in senior executive positions with Bombardier, Oerlikon Aerospace, CAE Electronics and ALSTOM Canada. He is also Chairman of the Canadian Airports Council.

Mr Cherry replaces interim Chairman, Dr. Ghanem Al Hajri, from Sharjah Airport, who has filled the role since the retirement of Niels Boserup in August. "We thank Dr Al Hajri for stepping in during this important transition period.

"Niels Boserup served almost two terms as chairperson," said Robert J Aaronson. "His leadership of ACI and service to airports around the world was invaluable and we wish him well in his retirement."

Also retiring from the ACI World Governing Board after 11 years' service is Toru Nakamura of Tokyo Narita Airport. New members of the board include Declan Collier from Dublin Airport Authority, Javier Marin of AENA and Ad Rutten from Schiphol Group.

About ACI-NA:
The mission of Airports Council International - North America (ACI-NA) is to advocate policies and provide services that strengthen the ability of air carrier airports to serve their passengers, customers and communities. ACI-NA represents local, regional and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ACI-NA member airports enplane more than 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all the international airline passenger and cargo traffic in North America. Nearly 400 aviation-related businesses are also members of the association, which is the largest of the five worldwide regions of Airports Council International.