From 23 to 25 June 2026, the 36th ACI EUROPE Annual Congress and General Assembly took place in Prague, Czech Republic, bringing together airport executives, aviation industry representatives and international organisations from across Europe.
The Congress and General Assembly were attended by a delegation of the Association «Airports of Ukraine” Civil Aviation (AAUCA), headed by its President, Petro Lypovenko.
Representatives of eight Ukrainian airports and AAUCA, all members of ACI EUROPE, were invited to participate in the Congress. During last year’s Congress in Athens, they were honoured with the Exceptional Resilience Award in recognition of their outstanding resilience and determination throughout the exceptionally challenging period of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine. Unfortunately, not all invited representatives were able to attend this year’s event.
Throughout the Congress, the AAUCA delegation received a genuinely warm and heartfelt welcome from their European colleagues. During both official meetings and informal discussions, participants expressed their solidarity with the Ukrainian people, offered their sincere support and reaffirmed their willingness to continue assisting Ukraine’s aviation sector in restoring its operations as soon as conditions become safe and permitted by law. This once again demonstrated the strong and long-standing partnership between the Ukrainian and European airport communities.
Congress participants listened with great interest to the presentation delivered by ACI EUROPE Director General Olivier Jankovec, who reviewed the performance of European airports and the latest developments across the sector. They also took part in plenary sessions, panel discussions and professional exchanges addressing the key challenges and future prospects of the aviation industry. The main topics included airport infrastructure development, aviation market recovery, digitalisation, aviation decarbonisation, the implementation of innovative technologies, cybersecurity, airports’ financial resilience and the industry’s adaptation to today’s geopolitical challenges.
One of the key highlights of the Congress and General Assembly was the presentation by AAUCA President Petro Lypovenko of the AAUCA Honorary Badge and the “Friend of Ukrainian Airports” Certificate to ACI EUROPE Director General Olivier Jankovec.
The award was presented in recognition of his many years of support for Ukrainian airports and his personal contribution to strengthening cooperation between the Ukrainian and European aviation communities. His support for Ukraine’s aviation sector has continued for more than a decade. In particular, in 2016 he participated in the AAUCA AeroCongress in Kyiv, where he actively supported the development of cooperation between Ukraine and the European aviation community on the country’s path towards the Common Aviation Area with the European Union.
Following ACI EUROPE’s presentation of the Exceptional Resilience Award to its Ukrainian members in 2025, the Ukrainian airport community expressed its sincere gratitude to the Director General of ACI EUROPE for his principled leadership, openness to cooperation and unwavering support for Ukrainian airports during the most difficult period in their history.
During the Congress, the Ukrainian delegation also presented its vision for the future restoration of the national airport network following the reopening of Ukraine’s airspace. Despite more than four years of the forced suspension of civil aviation operations, Ukrainian airports have preserved their highly qualified workforce, operational capabilities and readiness to resume airport activities. The experience gained while operating under wartime conditions is unique and represents valuable practical knowledge for the entire European aviation community.
We are grateful to fate for giving us this opportunity to communicate and collaborate with friends, colleagues, experts, and aviators.
