UKACCS Learning From Each Other

Next month I will attend my fourth annual meeting of UK Airport Consultative Committees (UKACCs), this year hosted by London Stansted Airport

I have come to value these gatherings enormously.

UKACCs brings together 23 Airport Consultative Committees from across the country. They represent airports of very different sizes, serving different markets and communities, but they share an important purpose: providing independent forums in which airports can listen to, engage with and be challenged by their stakeholders. 

That diversity is one of UKACCs’ greatest strengths.

It would be easy to assume that the largest airports have the most to teach. My experience suggests something rather different. Large airports can learn a great deal from smaller airports, where different circumstances, closer relationships or simply a different way of approaching a familiar problem can produce ideas worth borrowing.

And the traffic travels both ways.

Whether we are discussing accessibility, noise, surface access, sustainability, community engagement or service quality, somebody somewhere will probably have encountered a similar challenge. Sharing what worked, and sometimes what didn’t, means that every airport does not have to discover the answer independently.

That is why these meetings matter. UKACCs describes part of its role as enabling members to “exchange experiences” and share good practice.  Ultimately, better consultation and better sharing of ideas should lead to better airports and, importantly from my perspective as Chair of the Heathrow Passenger Forum, better experiences for passengers.

This year’s programme illustrates the breadth of that conversation, ranging from Stansted’s future development and aviation skills to noise and health, climate adaptation and regional connectivity. 

There will be one small difference for me this year.

Rather than simply travelling to Stansted for a meeting about airports, I am going to travel through Stansted. I plan to fly out from the airport immediately before the meeting and return in time to join colleagues for the formal programme.

It seems appropriate. If we are going to spend two days discussing airports and the people who use them, there is something to be said for arriving with a very fresh passenger experience of our host airport.

UKACCs is fortunate to have Colin Flack OBE as its Chair and Paula Street heading its Secretariat.  Both deserve considerable credit for creating an environment in which people from very different airports and organisations can speak openly, compare experiences and learn from one another. The annual meeting is chaired this year by Colin alongside Stansted ACC Chair Shena Winning, she’s a ‘force of nature’ and has an ability to get to the heart of issues with precision.

I am looking forward to seeing them, and colleagues from across the UK, again. Because no airport has a monopoly on good ideas. And when we share those ideas, passengers everywhere have the opportunity to benefit.

Mark A Izatt

29th September 2026