DIRECTOR of Marketing and Research of Sharjah International Airport Jamal A Akram chaired a meeting on Tuesday to finalize the arrangements of the Air Cargo Conference and Exhibition being hosted by Sharjah Airport from March 9 to 11.

The third sub-committee meeting was attended by all the directors and the managers of Sharjah airport and matters like number of exhibitors, stand position and articles of display, VIP invitations for opening, gala dinner, visa arrangements, co-ordination between the hotels, airlines and the Airports Council International (ACI) Geneva were discussed at length.

The meeting also discussed names and details of the conference sponsors including Air BP, Lufthansa Cargo, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, UPS, Eppco Aviation and Shell.

Akram stressed on all the directors and managers for co-ordinating their efforts in the right direction for making this prestigious event a success. He assigned members of the sub-committee different tasks and asked them to finish them before hand.

Giving details of the ACI, Akram said that the meeting of the ACI World Facilitation Standing Committee will be held on March 7, two days prior to the opening of the conference. On March 8, the registration of the delegates form all over the world will be completed and a reception will be held for the participants. There will be six working sessions on different topics in which cargo and aviation experts will make presentations.

Dr. Ghanem Al Hajri, director general of Sharjah Airport Authority, will deliver the welcome address on March 9 which will be followed by keynote address of General Jean Fleury, ACI chairman and president of Airports De Paris.

The first working session on "market trends in cargo and scenarios for airports" will be held at 11 a.m. Bo Hauggard director marketing and cargo, Copenhagen Airports Ltd., Frank Berweger, vice-president, Middle East & Africa Lufthansa Cargo, and Les Bolingbroke, assistant-director external relations IATA, will make presentations. In the evening, delegates will be given a tour of the Sharjah Airport.

In the second working session on "information technology for tomorrow" Colin Mills, managing director of British Airways Speed wing, Lynne Fraser, publishing director of OAG Worldwide, and John Gordon Smith, managing director of United Parcel Service (UPS), will deliberate on the subject. Moderator for the session will be James E. Lasrsen, manager, air cargo business development, Port Authority New York and New Jersey.

The third session will be moderated by Gert-Jan Hermelink, director of cargo, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, which is on "logistics chain - improving the cargo process." Experts from Air Sea Broker Ltd., International Air Transport Association (IATA) and World Customs Organization will present papers. In fourth session experts will give submissions on "intermodal cargo - airports global distribution centers." ACI Asia Regional Board meeting will be held after the fourth session. The Gala Dinner and awards presentation ceremony will be held on March 10.

On the last day of the conference two working sessions will be held on "cargo handling and security developments" and "airport cargo marketing and development."

After the working sessions, ACI Director-General Jonathan Howe will present concluding remarks.