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The Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific & Middle East has established a significant partnership with the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) aimed at enhancing the long-term coordination between airport infrastructure and air traffic management across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.
Formalized through a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on May 13, 2026, during the ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East Regional Assembly, Conference & Exhibition (RACE) held in Bangkok, this agreement lays the foundation for collaboration that emphasizes long-term aviation capacity planning, operational efficiency, and synchronizing traffic management systems.
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As the aviation markets in these regions continue to grow rapidly, there is increasing urgency to address the pressures on airports, airspace networks, and operational systems. With passenger numbers expected to surge in the coming decades, aviation stakeholders are eager to adopt more cohesive strategies for infrastructure development and airspace management to ensure continued operational quality.
This partnership will enable ACI APAC & MID and CANSO to conduct joint assessments of airport and air traffic management (ATM) capacities, identify operational inefficiencies, and craft solutions that enhance the alignment of ground infrastructure with airspace operations. This initiative aims to empower airports and air navigation service providers to manage the rising traffic volumes efficiently while minimizing delays and congestion.
The MoC emphasizes the significance of operational collaboration and the implementation of internationally recognized best practices. Key aspects include Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM), Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM), and Total Airport Management (TAM), all aimed at fostering stronger ties between airports, airlines, and air navigation authorities.
A-CDM facilitates real-time data sharing and collective decision-making among aviation stakeholders, thereby boosting aircraft turnaround efficiency, optimizing gate management, and enhancing runway utilization. By promoting a collaborative environment with shared situational awareness, this system significantly improves overall airport operations.
ATFM will also assume a critical role in the overarching agreement. This system regulates traffic across highly congested airspace corridors to ensure that aircraft movements are balanced with the available airspace capacity. This is increasingly vital as Asian and Middle Eastern airlines expand their routes both regionally and internationally.
Another cornerstone of this cooperation is Total Airport Management (TAM), which streamlines airport-wide systems into a unified management framework. TAM encourages collaboration across various airport sectors—including different departments, airlines, air traffic control authorities, and service providers—boosting operational performance across the entire airport ecosystem.
This new partnership builds upon prior regional initiatives designed to bolster aviation infrastructure and enhance operational resilience. In 2025, airport stakeholders passed a resolution in New Delhi aimed at maximizing efficiency within current infrastructure while enabling future airport expansion. The current MoC builds upon these efforts by fostering a more structured and cohesive planning framework between airports and air navigation entities.
With increasing emphasis from regional aviation authorities and industry organizations on synchronized airport and airspace development, this partnership is crucial in addressing the operational bottlenecks often created when airport infrastructure projects advance faster than necessary airspace upgrades. Such bottlenecks can greatly impact airline schedules, passenger experiences, and overall operational efficiency.
The collaboration between ACI APAC & MID and CANSO aims to tackle these challenges by advocating for integrated planning and shared operational strategies. By jointly analyzing projected traffic growth and future capacity needs, the partnership seeks to ensure that airport development is in harmony with evolving airspace management capabilities.
The Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions are currently among the fastest-growing aviation markets globally, fueled by rising middle-class populations, burgeoning tourism sectors, and heightened international trade. Consequently, both governments and airport operators are making substantial investments in new terminal constructions, runway extensions, next-gen airport technologies, and large-scale infrastructure projects to meet the anticipated demands.
Simultaneously, air navigation service providers face mounting pressures to modernize their systems, improve traffic flow efficiency, and safely accommodate increasing aircraft movements. Efficient coordination between airports and airspace authorities is becoming increasingly pivotal in sustaining operational performance and reducing systemic inefficiencies.
This MoC also aligns with broader industry objectives related to sustainability and resilience. Streamlining airport and air traffic management systems could minimize aircraft holding patterns, reduce fuel consumption, and bolster overall operational sustainability. Enhanced coordination between various aviation stakeholders will further strengthen the industry’s resilience to potential disruptions and its ability to respond promptly to operational challenges.
Through this partnership, both ACI APAC & MID and CANSO will facilitate knowledge sharing, technical cooperation, and regional collaboration, encouraging airports and air navigation service providers to adopt advanced digital tools and integrated management systems for more efficient aviation networks.
Industry professionals view this agreement as a significant stride toward a highly connected and future-ready aviation landscape across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. By harmonizing airport infrastructure planning with airspace capacity management, this partnership is poised to support sustainable long-term growth, while ensuring efficiency, safety, and service quality across the regions.
As we look towards a future with escalating passenger traffic and increasingly interconnected aviation networks, the importance of coordinated planning between airports and air navigation authorities becomes ever more apparent. The strategic alliance between ACI APAC & MID and CANSO emphasizes that the pursuit of sustainable aviation growth must encompass not only the expansion of physical infrastructure but also foster better collaboration and integration across the entire aviation ecosystem.
Source: The post Airports Council International APAC & MID Partners With CANSO to Develop Integrated Airport and Airspace Strategies Across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East: You Need to Know first appeared on www.travelandtourworld.com.
