Turkish CEO takes big leadership prize

NICE

Turkish TAV Airports CEO Şener received his award in France. Company photo

Turkish TAV Airports CEO Sani Şener was selected as the most prominent leader of the past 20 years in the airport operation industry during the Global Airport Development Conference held in Nice, France, on Nov. 6.

Şener was voted the most prominent leader of the sector by 400 delegates attending the Global Airport Development (GAD) Conference which brought airport operators, contractors, consultants and finance organizations together. The 20th GAD Conference also featured the honorary awards which were presented for the first time in five categories. Şener was presented the “Industry Hero” award for his qualities of displaying an outstanding performance without compromising from the integral strategy and clear vision both during good and challenging times.

Liberalization in Turkish market

“Since the beginning of 1990’s, when the airport privatizations had begun, this event has been a major platform where the private sector shares its experiences in order to develop suitable strategies and models. Turkey has initially missed the globalization process however caught up during the 2000’s.

Then, it achieved a rapid growth during the past decade through the successful privatization and liberalization policies implemented particularly in the aviation sector,” Şener said.

In 2012, French company Aeroports de Paris acquired 38 percent of TAV Airports’ shares. TAV provided services to 575,000 flights and 72 million passengers in 2012 with many airports under its operation, from the Istanbul Atatürk Airport to the İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport.

Recently, Sani Şener was also appointed to the ACI World Board of Directors to represent Europe. ACI World has 1,751 member airports from 174 countries.