ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East Presents Airport Capacity, Slot Policy and Climate Priorities at 61st ICAO DGCA Conference
Why It MattersThe proposals signal a regional push to align airport and airspace investment, slot governance and emissions reduction with sharply rising Asia-Pacific passenger demand.
Airports Council International Asia-Pacific & Middle East (ACI APAC & MID), representing more than 600 airports across the region, outlined three priorities at the 61st ICAO Conference of Directors General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the Asia and Pacific Regions, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 7-11 September 2026: assessing airport and air traffic management/airspace capacities, modernising airport slot policy, and supporting airport climate action.
On capacity, ACI APAC & MID, in partnership with CANSO, called for airport and airspace capacity development to proceed together, urging states to support coordinated planning and a joint ACI-CANSO assessment to identify gaps. Asia-Pacific airports handled an estimated 3.6 billion passengers in 2025, with traffic forecast to grow at 3.6% annually and the region projected to reach 10 billion passengers by 2054.
On slot policy, the organisation advocated modernising airport slot frameworks while maintaining global coordination through the Worldwide Airport Slot Board, proposing greater transparency in slot allocation, a more structured role for airports, clearer conditions for historic slots, and stronger oversight of slot mobility. On climate, it called for initiatives to help airports strengthen climate resilience, reduce emissions and progress toward net zero.
ACI APAC & MID also submitted an information paper on airport security challenges arising from rapid traffic growth, and a separate paper on the state of the Asia-Pacific airport industry examining growth, fiscal pressures and infrastructure requirements.
