Speaker Biograghy: David Ciceo is the CEO of Cluj-Napoca International Airport since November 1995. During his 20 years tenure, David strived to transform the airport in one of the busiest airport in Romania. Currently, the airport is the second biggest in the country, serving more than 1.5 million passengers. He graduated in 1991 from the Faculty for Aircraft Engineering at the Polytechnic University in Bucharest. He holds a PhD in airport management from Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania (2014), and two MBAs - from Open University, Milton Keynes, Great Britain (2003) and John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal (2006). In 2009 David obtained International Airport Professional (IAP) designation. Other functions: President of Romanian Airports Association since 1999; member of ACI Europe Board since 2011; Vicepresident of IAP-CoP Board of Directors since 2012. Born on 01.01.1967, David is married with two children, Ioana and Andrei.


Day 3 - 17 March
Session: Airport Design, Planning & Development

11:15 - 11:40 - Challenges: a small airport's very rapid growth
Synopsis: The very rapid traffic growth of Cluj International Airport, Romania, from 130,000 in 2003 to more than 1.5 million in 2005, involved many challenges. The airport strategy development completed in 2005 to increase the traffic to more than 1 million passengers proved realistic. The strategy was successfully implemented with three key factors: marketing strategy, infrastructure development and investments financing. Two key issues we had to cope were internal and external of our organisation. Internally, the rapidly growing organisation urgently needed many new competencies; externally, the involvement of all our stakeholders was essential.

Audience will learn:

• Airport development needs a good strategy
• Marketing is essential in achieving traffic growth
• The very rapid growth means many challenges: financial, organisational, internal and external
• Cooperation with all stakeholders is a key issue for success
• The rapidly changing external environment and competition are also very important factors