Track 1 Premium Conference
We are thrilled to announce that the first Premium Conference agenda for FTE Global 2025 is now live! Over the course of three days, Premium FTE Global registrants will have access to a rich array of conference content. This year's sessions will focus on how airlines and airports can adapt, collaborate, leverage digital platforms, create new business models, and reinvent the passenger experience, through our theme of "Collaborative Transformation". Many more speakers, sessions and conference tracks will be announced in the coming weeks, but below you can take in all the content from Stage 1 at the show.

Filters
Pass type
Categories
Tuesday 9th September 2025
APEX Thought Leadership Conference

If you are registered for FTE Global with a Premium Pass you will get access to the APEX Thought Leadership sessions taking place in the morning on Tuesday 9th September. PLUS all registrants for FTE Global get complimentary access to the APEX/IFSA Global EXPO exhibition hall and education stages.
Learn more about the benefits of this incredible co-location effort and how the co-location works in practice for participants at both shows, here >>


Mesfin Tasew
Group Chief Executive Officer
Ethiopian Airlines


Dina Ben Tal Ganancia
Chief Executive Officer
EL AL Israel Airlines


Campbell Wilson
Chief Executive Officer
Air India
More speakers to be announced soon
Lunch
FTE APEX IFSA EXPO Opens, VIP Tours & Showcases
FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group meeting

The FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group (BIWG) brings together the most innovative and progressive baggage supply chain companies, airlines, and airports from across the industry to provide a unique platform for cooperation and industry advancement. It is the platform for game-changing proof of concepts (POCs) & developing new techniques, technologies, and business models to deliver tangible change in the baggage sector.
Please contact us for more information Airlines can join the FTE BIWG for free
FTE World Ancillary & Retailing Working Group Meeting
The FTE World Ancillary & Retailing Working Group brings together all relevant industry stakeholders – including airlines, airports, and vendors – to collaborate on transforming retail and ancillary strategies across the sector. With hundreds of members already onboard, we firmly believe that by working collectively and leveraging technology, innovative approaches, and new business models, we can create a significantly larger revenue pie for everyone to share. This group serves as a powerful platform for exchanging ideas and accelerating industry progress. It’s free to join for airlines and airports, and this highly interactive meeting at FTE Global will help instigate group-wide discussions on best practices, offering a 360-degree view on implementing new visions, decision-making, and lessons learned by members.
The FTE Sprint Sessions

We will crowdsource problem statements for our sector, and in our Sprint Sessions taking place in a dedicated zone on the show floor, attendees with an interest in the topic can gather and participate in one of the three 20-minute Sprint Sessions to quickly brainstorm, and suggest potential solutions or approaches, that could address the challenge. The output will be shared with all attendees, and the industry at large, post-event.
- 13:20-13:40 – Topic 1: Tech and experiential strategies for enhancing accessibility
- 14:00-14:20 – Topic 2: Use cases for Agentic AI in aviation
- 14:40-15:00 – Topic 3: Strategies to achieve end-to-end CX personalisation
Tech & Innovation Briefing - Baggage

Our popular Tech & Innovation Briefings on the exhibition floor allow attendees to join guided tours and meet exhibitors with relevant products, services and concepts to learn more about the subjects they are most interested in. You can expect briefings in 2025 around a variety of pertinent topics, each briefing subject is scheduled to succeed a related conference session.
FTE Global Opening Keynote Session


Daniel Coleman
Founder & CEO
Future Travel Experience


Dr. Joe Leader
Group CEO
APEX/IFSA/FTE
FTE Global Welcome Reception

Make the most of the vital networking opportunities provided at the FTE Global Welcome Reception, where delegates can enjoy demonstrations in the exhibition and network with their peers over drinks.
Wednesday 10th September 2025
Registration Open
Exhibition Hall Open
Airport leadership strategies to maximise capacity, operational efficiency, customer experience, revenue, workforce – and prepare for change
What will 2050 look like and how should air transport stakeholders evolve their thinking to be ready for that?


Nick Bartlett
Director, Lead for Financial Services & Insurance, and Transportation & Manufacturing
Future Today Institute


Julian Jäger
CEO
Vienna International Airport


Lance Lyttle
CEO
Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA)
( speaker Invited)

Thomas Hoff Andersson
Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer
Munich Airport


Cynthia Guidry
Director
Long Beach Airport
More speakers to be announced soon
- What are the bold new business models airport leaders could explore in the future?
- How can we create smarter airports that expand capacity without expanding their footprint?
- Have we commoditized the passenger journey, and airport experience, too much and how does that influence airport development and business strategies?
- How do we see the industry evolving with the introduction of new trends like AI, eVTOLs and new types of aircraft?
- How can we develop airports using less space, and less employees, and what new business models will there be for airport operators?
- How intelligent can airports get and are we anywhere near close to maximum efficiency?
- How do we transform approaches to create more capacity and efficiencies at airports?
- How should passenger experiences evolve at airports, and can we really get to a “walking airport”?
- How should employee experiences evolve for those based at the airport?
- How can airports better serve, and collaborate, with other stakeholders at the airport?
- What are the right technology approaches for airports and is it time to move away from legacy systems?
- How might safety and security approaches evolve at airports into the future?
- How can airports better play their part in industry sustainability efforts?
- How paramount is the role of technology, and innovation, going forward and can it facilitate totally new approaches to the running of airports going forward?
- Considering growth projections, and the challenges or recruiting staff how far should airport automation efforts go and when might we see the first dark airport?
- How can airports take the next leap forward in commercial success?
- How should airport design evolve, and move beyond us replacing existing facilities with new facilities that fundamentally do the same thing as before?
- How do we get more processes off-airport, and how can off-airport check in evolve to better serve both the customer and the operation?
- How can we build more resilience into our systems and processes to avoid CrowdStrike style meltdowns?
- What must our industry do to meet its environmental sustainability responsibilities and what do different stakeholders need to do to play their part and be ready for the revolution coming?
- What does the integrated travel hub of the future look like that connects land, sea, air & space and how do all stakeholders co-exist and create seamless experiences?
Coffee Break on the exhibition floor
Tech & Innovation Briefing - Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Internet of Things (IoT)

Special Presentation
How Haneda Airport is collaborating to create the airport of the future through the “terminal.0 HANEDA” cross-industry innovation initiative, which is expected to provide significant insights by 2026


Atsushi Ikeda
Director
Japan Airport Terminal Co. Ltd
( speaker Invited)The future of business & commercial strategies for airports – are we at the threshold of airports evolving to become digital companies that run experiential businesses, and what would the new business models and organisational structures be behind that?


Guðmundur Daði Rúnarsson
Chief Commercial and Airport Development Officer
Keflavik Airport


Kaveh Dabiran
Managing Director, Corporate Real Estate Planning & Development
United Airlines


Mike Hardaker
Chief Asset & Development Officer
Manchester Airports Group


Andrea Goodpasture
Managing Director- Airport Affairs
Southwest Airlines


Dr. Lutz Weisser
Managing Director
Munich Airport International
More speakers to be announced soon
Tech & Innovation Briefing - Security, Digital Identity & Biometrics

Lunch and networking on the exhibition floor with exclusive launches and unveilings
Advancing digital identity & seamless travel efforts


Ross Falconer
Head of Content
Future Travel Experience
The panel will share a range of dynamic approaches and learnings on how they are advancing digital identity to deliver next-level customer experiences and efficiencies for industry stakeholders, and ideas on how the industry can build compelling business cases and swiftly scale the use of facial technology for passenger, and industry, benefit.


Melanie Bryant
Vice President - IT Delivery and Business Enablement
Emirates


Albert Van Veen
Vice President, Innovation and Chief Information Officer
Vancouver International Airport


Jason Fogelman
Senior Director – Airport & Inflight Strategy & Ops Support
Spirit Airlines


Jens Sanner
Program Director for Digital Services and Transformation
Fraport


Jean-Francois Lennon
SVP Global Business Development Border Authorities
Amadeus
- What are the key lessons to be taken from the TSA’s passenger experience survey results? Do the results reinforce that the overwhelming majority of customers opting-in do want biometrics & digital identity technology?
- While tech advancements are of course important, how much of the customer experience is also driven by interaction with people? And how do we find the right balance between implementing cutting-edge tech and retaining those people skills?
- What are the key benefits of AI-enabled biometrics in terms of enhancing CX and customer service? And does Artificial Intelligence have a big role to play in removing bias?
- What impact does AI-powered biometrics potentially have on being able to optimise the way airports are designed and understanding how travellers interact with facilities?
- How can AI-powered biometrics help facilitate more personalised services for travellers?
- What are your experiences with the cybersecurity aspects of biometrics & digital identity?
- What more can suppliers do to support industry progress, and interoperability desires?
- What is the CBP’s mobile app strategy, with the ESTA App and the Global Entry App, and how is technology streamlining processes? How you see that getting even better into the future?
- Why is Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) superior to other processes and how does it make steps taken at the checkpoint even more seamless?
- What do travellers really want to know about biometrics? To what extent does communication need to be about the ease, convenience and speed, rather than how the technology itself actually works?
- What are the key concerns being expressed by privacy advocates in terms of accuracy and bias, and can you share your own experience and perspective on how biometrics technology compares to the human element?
- From a technology perspective, how is biometrics technology being developed with an inherent element of privacy, for example in terms of storing data?
- How are all stakeholders – including government agencies, airlines, airports and technology providers – collaborating to establish the most effective ways of educating travellers, and communicating the benefits of biometrics, to ensure wider acceptance?
- What have been the big lessons learnt on business models, financials and implementations that somebody who is only just thinking about working with biometrics should know?
- What is considered best practice now on addressing privacy concerns, and educating and motivating passengers on the merits of sharing their biometric data?
- From a tech perspective, what is the future of Trusted Traveler? What can travellers expect in the next 10 years?
Networking on the exhibition floor
Tech & Innovation Briefing - Accessibility - Autonomous wheelchairs & other exciting new technology & services to improve accessibility for all

Special Presentation
What new approaches, and initiatives, are being driven forward by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to take customer experiences for all passengers to a whole new level across the New York airport system, and what role will digital play in that?


Brian Rohlf
Manager – Landside Operations & Customer Service
The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
The FTE Accessibility Symposium – let’s go above and beyond what is required
The moderator will set the scene and then following a scene-setting presentation a panel discussion will begin where each speaker will talk for 5 minutes on how they are evolving their approaches to better serve guests who use wheelchairs, white canes and have cognitive disabilities.


Ryan Ghee
Chief Operating Officer
Future Travel Experience
The latest spending habits, requirements & travel trends of travelers with disabilities


Eric Lipp
Executive Director
Open Doors Organization
A new Harris poll commissioned by Open Doors Organization will dive deep into how much people with disabilities spend when they travel. This new research trends back to ODO’s first study in 2002 giving the industry the most definitive travel trends and the powerful disability dollar.


Hannah Meredith
Senior Manager of Strategic Innovation
CVG Airport
( speaker Invited)

Natalie Randall
Day of Travel Experience Manager
Alaska Airlines
More speakers to be announced soon
FTE Global Networking Party (featuring the FTE Global Awards Ceremony)

This year’s FTE Global Networking Party will take place at the Hotel Maya – a full-scale Latin American-inspired resort with a distinctive Southern California combination of spectacular, oceanfront views amidst 14 acres of lush, tropical gardens dotted with 500 palm trees in a modern, open-air setting. The event will be this year’s premier industry networking event, providing a perfect opportunity to unwind and network with fellow attendees in a relaxed environment.
It will also provide the perfect location for the industry-leading FTE Global Pioneer Awards ceremony sponsored by, which will recognise the world’s most pioneering airports and airlines with innovation projects prevalent across their entire organisations. Three airports and three airlines will be highly commended, while three more airports and airlines will receive FTE Global Pioneer Awards trophies. As part of the evening we will also recognise outstanding achievements among our FTE Americas Digital Transformation Power List nominees.
Sponsored by:
Thursday 11th September 2025
Morning Keynote
Pilot stories: What hard lessons have been learned – and what are the secrets to a successful innovation journey?
A fast-moving panel discussion where each speaker can share their innovation journey so far, including what worked, what didn’t, how to scale, and the strategies and technologies being implemented.


Kevin Kleist
Head of Emerging Trends
Southwest Airlines


Pablo Lopez Loeches
Head of Ideation & Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Customer Experience Directorate
Aena


Thomas Dworschak
Head of IT Digitalization & Innovation
Vienna Airport


Tom Cizauskas
Business Administration Manager
Gerald R. Ford International Airport Authority (GRR)


Christian George Kessler
Organizational Alignment and Strategic Innovation
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority


Nicole Hodges-Austin
Innovation Program Manager
Alaska Airlines
- What are the most effective strategies for building teams to deliver an innovation journey? And what stakeholders is it important to partner with?
- What are the contracting and procurement hurdles faced by startups with the potential to contribute to an innovation journey and how can those challenges be met?
- How can you change established processes at an airport or airline to drive meaningful innovation?
- What did you have to do to make innovation adoption happen?
Networking Break on exhibition floor
Tech & Innovation Briefing - Self-Service & Automation

Achieving a revolution in baggage by 2030
Following an update from the moderator on the latest progress from the FTE Baggage Innovation Working Group on its POCs and focus areas, and a scene-setting presentation on how we can overcome current challenges, and open new opportunities across the baggage realm, the panel will share ideas and views around the following key topics:
- New Business Models, Funding and Collaboration – how do we bring new innovation to life together?
- Using robotics and AI
- Sustainability in baggage
- Automation – loading/unloading, scanning, imaging
- Tracking – bags and vehicles
- Autonomous operations – airside, bag room and groundside
- Early baggage storage / dynamic baggage storage
- Processing more baggage offsite
- Change Management
Scene-setting presentation by our Moderator on latest baggage trends and FTE/BOOST POCs and initiatives


Darin Juby
Head of Transformation
Future Travel Experience


Anja Schuhmacher
Senior Manager Airport Experience & Partnerships
Lufthansa


Maren Lind Másdóttir
Director – Assets & Infrastructure
Keflavik Airport


Byron Smith
Chief Technology Officer
NetTracer
More speakers to be announced soon
Lunch and networking on the exhibition floor with exclusive launches and unveilings
Tech & Innovation Briefing - Robotics & Autonomous Vehicles

Post-lunch Keynote
United Above & Beyond: Building the World’s Leading Airline from the Inside Out
In a powerful finale keynote conversation, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby will share United’s ambitious mission to become the best airline in the world. From becoming the first major U.S. airline to offer free high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi to as of this year leading the world in IFE seat-back screens, United drives to set the highest standard for passenger experience. Kirby will offer an inside look at the strategy forging this incredible transformation, including the cultural and operational shifts that are rapidly accelerating the airline’s progress. This session will highlight how United’s investments in people, product, technology, and innovation will reshape the future of aviation from the inside out.
The secrets to using AI and other new technologies to reimagine end-to-end customer journeys
Each presenter will talk for 10 minutes on their approaches before a fast-moving panel discussion begins.


Hannah Meredith
Senior Manager of Strategic Innovation
CVG Airport


Vanesa Calvo Alonso
Head of Innovation
Aena


Christian Draeger
Senior Vice President, Passenger Experience
Berlin Brandenburg Airport


Jordie Knoppers
Future Customer Journey Manager
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
More speakers to be announced
FTE Global Closing Party (featuring the FTE Americas Innovate Awards Ceremony)

Make the most of the vital networking opportunities provided at the FTE Global Closing Party, which provides a final opportunity to spend some quality time on the show floor with a fun social twist thanks to our exhibitors who will be hosting drinks receptions, prize draw giveaways and unveilings. The FTE Global Closing Party will also provide the perfect location to reveal the winners of the FTE Americas Innovate Awards. During the previous two days audience members will have heard from industry stakeholders, each pitching on stage in an effort to impress our judges and their fellow aviation colleagues. Join us as we see the region’s largest and most respected innovation competition come to a close. The all-important audience votes will be tallied, and we will announce and celebrate the FTE Americas Innovate Awards winners.
Book your booth
Exhibit your product or service. Contact our team to discuss the opportunities available:
Why attend FTE Global?
Don’t just take our word for it – read what FTE Global attendees have said about the show…
Vital Event Information
Future Travel Experience Global 2025 is a global forum that brings together airlines, airports, government agencies, vendors, start-ups, terminal designers, architects, ground handlers, destination partners and various other travel industry stakeholders to learn, collaborate and be inspired on their next moves to transform their organisations’ passenger experience, business performance & sustainability strategies.
- Event
- Future Travel Experience Global 2025
- Date
- to September 2025
- Location
- Long Beach Convention Center, California, United States
Media Partners




