Welcome and history of the Committee
Welcome to the website of the Aberdeen International Airport Consultative Committee (AIACC). The Consultative Committee provides a regular forum for the management of the airport to discuss matters related to airport operations and developments with a range of representatives of the wider Aberdeen City and Shire communities.
All airports in the UK are required under civil aviation law to have a recognised means of consultation with the communities affected by their operations. Most airports do this through an airport consultative committee, as we do in Aberdeen.
The Aberdeen Committee has a long history, having been set up in 1953, when the erstwhile War Office invited the Clerk of the former Aberdeenshire County Council to establish a consultative committee. Of course, our membership and interests have changed over the years and our agendas have become more complex and varied to reflect developments in the aviation industry and the growth of the airport in recent decades.
We have no executive powers within the airport management structure but seek to work with the management of the airport in an advisory and consultative capacity, on issues ranging from the impact of noise arising from operations on the airfield to the role of the airport in the economic development of the City and Shire. The following pages give more information about us, our membership and the main items we have been discussing recently.
Alan Stewart
Chairman
Why is there an airport consultative committee?
For more than three decades, the UK's largest airports have had a statutory obligation to maintain a mechanism for consultation with local stakeholders on the operation of the airport and its impact on local residents and businesses and on the local environment and local economic development. In common with all the main airports in the UK, Aberdeen International Airport discharges this obligation through their airport consultative committee.
The Committee is independent of the operator and management of the airport and, as its name suggests, is consultative and has no executive powers. The Committee has adopted its own Constitution (most recently reviewed in 2017), which is based on the advice set out in the Department of Transport’s Guidelines for Airport Consultative Committees.
Our stated aim is to provide a structured forum for the two-way exchange of information between the airport operator and members of the Committee, who represent a wide cross section of stakeholders from society in Aberdeen City and Shire.
To see a copy of the Committee’s Constitution, click here.
To see a copy of the DfT Guidelines for Airport Consultative Committees, click here.
Who are the members of the consultative committee?
Our membership is drawn from a wide range of stakeholders, including Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils, local community councils, business development organisations, the travel trade, airport operators and passenger representatives. You can find a full list of members here.
When do we meet?
The Consultative Committee normally meets four times a year, in March, June, September and December, in the Board Room at the airport. Our meetings normally last about two hours, and sometimes include a tour of part of the airport or include a presentation by an invited speaker.
2024 Meeting Minutes
2023 Meeting Minutes
2022 Meeting Minutes
- March 2022 Meeting Minutes
- June 2022 Meeting Minutes
- September 2022 Meeting Minutes
- December 2022 Meeting Minutes
2021 Meeting Minutes
2020 Meeting Minutes
Unless otherwise published.
What do we discuss?
At every quarterly meeting the Committee receives a detailed report from the Operations Director of the airport on recent and current developments, future plans, route developments and performance monitoring data. We also receive a quarterly noise report, setting out the number and nature of complaints about noise, and a report from the Chairman on any activities he has been engaged in on behalf of the Committee between meetings.
Beyond that, our agenda is quite wide ranging and dependent on current issues relating to airports and aviation. Over the past few years, we have noted and prepared responses to various government consultations, ranging from air passenger duty to future aviation strategy. We show a keen interest in passenger affairs, particularly the performance of the special assistance support for passengers of reduced mobility and passengers with hidden disabilities. As you might expect, over the recent past we have kept ourselves informed of the terminal transformation project.
Our annual reports
For a number of years during the 1970s and 1980s the AIACC published an annual report. The practice then ceased until we resumed publishing an annual report on the work of the Committee in 2014. The annual report provides a summary of all the main items that we have discussed during the year in question, an update on membership and other issues of relevance to the work of the Committee.
You can access the following annual reports by clicking on the year covered.
Looking for more information about the Committee?
If you have any questions about the work of the Committee which you cannot answer by reference to the agendas, minutes and annual reports published on this website, please contact the Secretary in the first instance. We will do our best to answer.
If you wish to attend a meeting of the Committee as an observer, please contact the Secretary for an invitation. If you come as an observer, you will not be permitted to participate in the business of the Committee and you might be asked to leave the meeting during discussion on any commercially sensitive matter, or any item that relates to a specific person or organisation.
If you have an item that you wish to raise with the Committee, please contact the Secretary with a note of the item and with any supporting detail (for example, what outcome you are seeking). We will then advise you on whether you should in the first place seek to have the matter raised by a member of the Committee. If you are invited to attend and present your item, you will be allowed to speak at the invitation of the Chairman and to listen to any related discussion. You will also be permitted to remain at the meeting as an observer (see previous paragraph).
Contact us
In the first instance, you should contact our secretary, Gemma Mason by email [email protected].