More details about the line up of Session Chairs, panellists and speakers at this year's ERA Regional Airline Conference
Árni Gunnarsson, Managing Director, Air Iceland
Árni was appointed Managing Director of Air Iceland in March 2005. He previously worked as Director of Sales and Marketing at Air Iceland, Managing Director at Iceland Travel Bureau/ITB, Managing Director of Iceland Travel and Director of Icelandair Holidays. He worked for the German Tour Operator FTI in Munich as director of Risk Management in 1993-1997. Árni graduated in Economics from Augsburg University, Germany. He is Chairman of the Icelandic Travel Industry Association since 2008.
Brian Simpson, MEP, Chair of the Committee on Transport and Tourism, European Parliament
Brian Simpson was first elected to the European Parliament in June 1989. Representing the North West of England, Brian is recognised in the parliament for his work on transport and tourism. He has been a member of the Transport & Tourism Committee since becoming an MEP and is currently one of its longest serving members. From 1991 to 2004, he held the position of Socialist Group spokesperson for Transport & Tourism. He was re-elected to this position in 2008. In 2009 he was appointed the chairperson of the Transport & Tourism Committee.
He is also a member of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee where he acts as the British Labour Party spokesperson and is also a member of the Parliament's delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand and the delegation for relations with the US.
Chris Surgenor, Editor & Publisher, GreenAir Online
With 25 years of experience in aviation publishing, Christopher is the Publisher and Editor of GreenAir Online, which reports on environmental and climate change issues affecting the aviation industry. Since its launch in 2007, GreenAir Online has gained an international reputation for independent coverage of a highly sensitive area, reaching out to all sides of arguments between industry and environmentalists, and the developed and developing world. Its readership covers environmental and senior management at airlines, airports and aerospace companies, as well as policy-makers in government and regulating authorities. The publication has extensively covered developments of market-based measures for aviation at a global level and the introduction of the EU ETS to include aviation.
Christine Ourmières, CEO, CityJet
Ms. Ourmières holds a Master of Aeronautics from Ecole National Supérieure d'Ingénieurs and an MBA from Essec. She started in aviation over 20 years ago at Air France where she held a variety of key management positions across the company. In 2008 Christine became the first ever VP of the USA, before being appointed CEO of CityJet in 2010, becoming the first female CEO of an Irish airline. Since taking over, she has introduced a number of cost-cutting measures, turning around the fortunes of the loss-making subsidiary of Air France, including an aircraft utilisation programme and expanding the network.
Kostas Iatrou, Managing Director, Air Transport News
Dr Kostas Iatrou is the Managing Director of Air Transport News and VP Public Relations of Air Transport Research Society. He holds a PhD in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University and is co-author of the book “Airline Choices for the Future”. He is a Visiting Professor at the Aviation MBA of LUISS Business School and Coventry University and Visiting Lecturer at Cranfield University. His articles have featured in numerous air transport publications, such as the Journal of Airport Management, the Annals of Air and Space Law of McGill University etc. and he is Associate Editor of the Journal of Air Transport Studies. In 2013 Kostas launched Hermes Air Transport Club with the participation of more than 50 senior executives from the air transport business. In 2009 was deputy Mayor of Ekali, Greece, where he lives with his wife, Evgenia and his sons, George and Yiannis.
Mark Anžur, CEO, Adria Airways
Mark Anžur joined Adria Airways in April 2012 as a strategic sales and marketing specialist with experience in several multinational enterprises. A graduate of economics from the University of Ljubljana (first degree in 1996 and masters in 2001), Mark started his career in sales and marketing in the FMCG sector, where he managed the turnaround, brand development and eventual sale of Intertrade d.d.. After a short period working as a head-hunter, in 2003 he moved to Bramac, a part of leading global producer of roofing material as sales and marketing director with responsibility for the Slovenian market. In 2004, he was promoted to General Manager of Bramac Slovenia and managed its successful turnaround to become one of most lucrative companies in the country (ROE 40%). In 2006, Mark took responsibility for several of Bramac’s international markets. In 2011, he joined A.T. Kearney as a Strategy, Sales and Marketing specialist, where he lead several projects focused on the development of strategy, effective sales and marketing and turnaround management for large international clients in Slovenia, UAE and other countries.
Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI Europe
Olivier Jankovec became Director General of the European Region of Airports Council International (ACI EUROPE) in September 2006. He first joined ACI EUROPE in March 2006 as Director of Strategy and Communications. Olivier has over 19 years of governmental and lobbying experience, having worked for Alitalia (2002-2006), Air France (2000-2002) and the Air Transport Directorate of the European Commission (1994-2000). Immediately prior to joining ACI EUROPE, Olivier was the Director of Institutional Relations for Alitalia where he was in charge of governmental affairs at national, European and International levels. During this time he was also Chair of the Association of European Airlines Policy Committee. In 2006 and 2007, he participated in the EU’s High Level Group on the future of aviation regulation in Europe and he is also a member of the Advisory Board of the World Tourism Forum.
Bartlomiej Matusewicz, VP Operations & Maintenance, Eurolot
Bart started his career in 1997 working for Scandinavian Airlines. He worked for SAS for more than 8 years holding various operational and managerial positions in different countries at same time as being a trainer for more than 3 years opening new destinations in EMEA. He left SAS for LOT Polish Airlines start up Centralwings, where he worked in operations and later as a Managing Director. He also worked with Singapore Airlines as a Key Account, Marketing and PR Manager for Poland. Since 2009, Bart has been with Eurolot as VP Operations & Maintenance where, as an ACMI operator for LOT Polish Airlines, has managed to develop the eurolot.com brand and fly own routes internationally and domestically along with ACMI business.
Simon McNamara, Director General, ERA
Simon McNamara was appointed Director General on 1 January 2013. He is responsible to ERA’s board for the delivery and implementation of ERA’s work in the field of policy, events and communications. Under his leadership ERA is highlighting the aviation sector’s vital contribution to Europe’s future economic prosperity, particularly in the regions of Europe. McNamara travels extensively within Europe meeting with policy-making bodies such as EASA and the European Parliament and Council. He is a sought-after speaker at industry events and provides comment and analysis on market issues across a range of international media.
A graduate of City University, London, McNamara also holds an MSc from Cranfield University in the UK. His career in aviation spans nearly 20 years – before joining ERA in 1999 McNamara held positions at the Flight Data Company and the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations.
Tony Anderson
Tony Anderson was the first Marketing Director for revolutionary and highly successful airline easyJet, which became one of the most distinctive brands in aviation and one of the most recognisable companies worldwide. Working alongside the entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou, Tony Anderson was instrumental in the founding and success easyJet, and was also responsible for taking their branding into a wide range of highly successful spin-off operations, creating the easyGroup and becoming Marketing Director of the group as a whole. An honours graduate in Marketing and Modern Languages, he became the third employee of easyJet and the first employee of easyGroup. As such, Tony is in a unique position to offer a unique insider’s view of life inside the “easy” empire.
One of Britain’s most successful and celebrated Marketing professionals, he has been on the short list for the prestigious Marketer of the Year award and has also featured in the Hot 100 of marketing; the Marketing Power list. In addition to his work with easyJet, Tony Anderson has also held Executive positions in the UK and USA with British Airways, HSBC, Thomas Cook Group, internet bank Egg and others. He is currently Group Development Director of the world’s largest market research company, and is a regular speaker at corporate events and conferences around the world. Fully media trained by Lowe Bell, Tony Anderson has represented the company in news items with media organisations including BBC News, Channel 4 News, CNBC and CNN. He has also participated in radio debates with the BBC.