Chairman of the board of Tallinn Airport becomes first Estonian elected on the board of ACI Europe

Members of ACI (Airport Council International) Europe gathered in Rome on 23 June for General Assembly and to elect their board for its next  term. Riivo Tuvike, the Chairman of the Management Board of Tallinn Airport, has become the first Estonian to be elected to the board of ACI.

Alongside Europe’s biggest airports, Estonia is now represented on the board of ACI Euorpe by Tallinn Airport chairman Riivo Tuvike, who has the honour and task of representing all of Europe’s smaller airports. As the voice of such airports on the board, he will also be showing the way towards more rapid change in the transition to carbon neutrality, which is one of the strategic goals of Tallinn Airport.

European Commission Director-General for Mobility and Transport Henrik Hololei describes the achievement as remarkable. “I am genuinely so pleased that Riivo has been elected to the board of ACI Europe,” he said. “It is recognition of the work that he and everyone at Tallinn Airport have put in over the years. ACI Europe’s board plays a major role in shaping the views and policies of the continent’s airports and wields a lot of influence in presenting the challenges faced by the sector to decision-makers at both the European and Member State levels. Riivo’s election also reflects the sway that Estonian aviation holds, and in him, smaller airports around Europe will now have a voice and influence. I wish him all the best in such a responsible new post.”

Tuvike himself is delighted that Tallinn Airport and its operations have not gone unnoticed at the international level. “We were one of very few airports in Europe last year to end the year on a profit,” he said. “No less important are the rapid advances we are making in terms of carbon neutrality, in which we are really setting an example to others, having implemented activities that are already reducing our CO₂ footprint. Airports have gone through a difficult period in last two years, and the focus now is on speedy recovery and developing a business model that is both financially and environmentally sustainable.” He confirmed that representing smaller European airports and the Baltic States and passing on Estonia’s experience at the international level were weighty responsibilities he looked forward to fulfilling.

The ACI Europe board is led by the Executive Member of the Board of Directors for Spanish network operator Aena, Javier Marín. There are nine other members of the Member of the Board of Directors, each of them the head of a European airport:
Jonas Abrahamsson, Swedavia (Sweden)
Dick Benschop, Schiphol Airport (Netherlands)
Arnaud Feist, Brussels Airport (Belgium)
Abraham Foss, Avinor (Norway)
Julian Jäger, Vienna Airport (Austria)
Eleni Kaloyirou, Hermes Airports (Cyprus)
Yiannis Paraschis, Athens Airport (Greece)
Riivo Tuvike, Tallinn Airport (Estonia)

ACI is the international organisation of airport authorities. ACI Europe represents more than 500 airports in 55 countries, whose members organise more than 90% of all commercial flights in Europe. Air transport provides 13.5 million jobs and generates 886 billion euros for the European economy (4.4% of GDP). In June 2019, the members of ACI Europe took on the obligation of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Its headquarters are in Brussels, from which it coordinates the management and upkeep of the European airport industry and maintains close ties with other ACI regions around the world.