World ATM Congress Becomes Central Location for Air Traffic Professionals with More Than 5,000 Attendees

5,084 Active participants from more than 100 countries attended World ATM Congress this week in Madrid. Aisles were filled with 160 exhibiting companies. The Conference Programme welcomed more than 350 delegates. CEOs, air traffic specialists and controllers, aviation manufacturers and suppliers, and technical students were all in attendance at the event organised by the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) in association with the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA).

Jeff Poole, Director General of CANSO, said: "With this inaugural Congress, we have demonstrated industry leadership and delivered a great event. The Congress was designed by the industry, for the industry, and the industry has given it massive approval with more than 5,000 attendees. This has been an impressive start that has already established World ATM Congress as the must-attend, most influential event for the global ATM community, and others in the air transport sector."

Peter F. Dumont, President and CEO of ATCA, said: "The World ATM Congress has exceeded everyone's expectations both internally and externally. The world of ATM moved to Madrid with support from all involved. The true leaders of ATM were here in Madrid to speak. The Exhibit Hall was teeming with visitors, resulting in a number of contracts signed and partnerships formed. The next World ATM Congress is well on its way to a bigger and better event with a tremendous number of contracts from both existing and new exhibitors. See you in Madrid in 2014."

The event was a success on multiple levels - an active 21,600 square metre Exhibition Hall, popular product launches and demonstrations, and a quality line-up of speakers in the Conference Programme made it the largest gathering this year of air traffic management professionals.

Madrid and the Spanish government welcomed the Congress; Ana María Pastor Julián, Spain's Minister for Public Works and Transport, opened the event. Presenting the keynote was Roberto Kobeh González, President of the Council, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), followed by an impressive first panel consisting of Tony Tyler, Director General & CEO, International Air Transport Association (IATA); Angela Gittens, Director General, Airports Council International; Paul Riemens, CEO, LVNL; and Nicholas Callio, President and CEO, Airlines for America. The Honorable John D. Porcari, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation, presented the view on air traffic from the U.S. perspective.

Robust free education opportunities included three full Presentation Theatres touting the latest research and products. Discussions covering all aspects of aviation took place in roundtable formats from players including EUROCONTROL, SESAR JU, and Airbus ProSky.

Attendee Testimonials
"From the product vendor's point of view, this was a wonderful triumph. The key is that because this conference is supported by the ANSPs, it's a great meeting place for both the customer and the vendor. I met at least 12 representatives from Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) in one day - England, Germany, France, Romania, Poland - both big and little guys. This was the perfect venue for our new product release [VCS21]." Bob Coulson, Harris Corporation

"As an exhibitor for the first time, we were concerned we would not have enough customer flow, but we were pleasantly surprised - we had numerous foreign ANSPs visit our stand. We had many productive meetings; we will definitely plan to return. And how could you not like the weather, the food, and the people?" David Colangelo, C Speed

"The World ATM Congress event was effective at providing a dynamic venue for industry leaders and global customers to network and discuss opportunities and challenges in air traffic management." John Kefaliotis, ITT Exelis