Hong Kong SAR: Airports Council International Asia-Pacific & Middle East (ACI APAC & MID) and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation, establishing a formal framework for collaboration between the region’s airport and air traffic management (ATM) communities. 

The partnership aims to ensure that airport and ATM capacity expansion or optimisation and improvements advance in tandem, a strategic importance as the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions prepare for a period of extraordinary growth in air travel.

The agreement was signed, on 13 May, by the President & CEO of CANSO, Simon Hocquard, and Director General of ACI APAC & MID, Stefano Baronci, during the ACI Asia Pacific & Middle East Regional Assembly, Conference & Exhibition (RACE) in Bangkok.  

The MoC commits to assess existing and potential airport and ATM capacities across the region; identify operational and systemic misalignments between airport and ATM development; propose mitigation measures and best practices, including Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM), Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM), and Total Airport Management (TAM); and conduct a regional study to ensure the region’s aviation ecosystem is future-ready.

Stefano Baronci, Director General, ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East said, "Airports across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East are on the cusp of unprecedented growth. With passenger volumes projected to reach nearly 10 billion in the Asia-Pacific region alone by 2053, driven by an annual growth rate of close to 7% over the next 25 years, there is an urgency to optimise capacity both on ground as well as on air. When we address shared challenges collectively, we deliver better outcomes across the entire aviation ecosystem, and most importantly, for the hundreds of millions of passengers who will depend on our infrastructure every year."

“The Asia-Pacific region is entering a period of extraordinary growth, and airports and air navigation services cannot succeed in isolation. This partnership with ACI establishes the coordination framework essential to ensuring that capacity expansion on the ground and in the skies advance together to meet demand.” commented Simon Hocquard, CANSO President and CEO. 

The MoC also builds on a resolution adopted by the ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East Regional Assembly in New Delhi in April 2025, through which airport members committed to promoting the optimisation of existing capacity and the development of new infrastructure both on the ground and in the skies.

CANSO’s Air Traffic Flow Management and Collaborative Decision-Making Workgroup has already carried out extensive work on improving how these two areas work together, including the recent development of a performance framework for Airport Collaborative Decision Making. ACI Asia-Pacific and Middle East will help strengthen this work and allow it to be tested and refined through closer cooperation.

Another area for future collaboration is to jointly assess airport and airspace capacity across the region to meet future demand. When traffic grows faster than capacity, it can lead to delays and missed opportunities. While capacity is often assessed by individual organisations, there is a clear need for a coordinated regional approach that considers how airports and airspace interact. At present, there is no shared regional exchange that brings airports and air navigation service providers together in this way.

Media Contact
For further information, please contact:
ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East
Sunil Subbaiah
Head, Communications & Brand 
E: sunil@aci-asiapac.aero

About CANSO

CANSO - the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation - is the global voice of the air traffic management (ATM) industry and is shaping our future skies. Our members support over 90 per cent of the world's air traffic and include air navigation service providers, airspace users and operators, manufacturers and aviation industry suppliers. We raise the bar on global ATM performance by connecting the industry to share knowledge, expertise and innovation.

About ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East (ACI APAC & MID)

ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East (ACI APAC & MID) is the voice of airports in the region, representing over 600 airport members across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Headquartered in Hong Kong, with a regional office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ACI APAC & MID advocates for the collective interests of airports and promotes professional excellence in airport management and operations.

Asia-Pacific and the Middle East are among the world’s most dynamic aviation markets, home to nine of the fastest-growing markets globally. According to the latest Economic Impact Assessment, air transport supports 46 million jobs and contributes $1.18 trillion to regional GDP in Asia-Pacific and Middle East. With passenger traffic expected to expand, the aviation sector’s direct contribution to GDP is projected to grow annually by 5.1% in Asia-Pacific and 4.5% in the Middle East over the next two decades.