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Dear friends and colleagues, After three successful worldwide conferences I think we have achieved enough professional and intellectual maturity to transcend at the law world and initiate from WALA a path, an idea, an alternative which can collaborate at the civil aviation development and within it, with the development of States and benefit their inhabitants. Airport service has been transformed. That service condition connects it directly with public interest and involves it in all political aspects: political, economic, social, and cultural and obviously, juridical. At the beginning of the second decade of XXI century airport service cannot be prisoner of principles and rules that at dawn of the XX century marked what the future would bring it. That philosophical, political and economic conception that saw at the airport a "cost" or a role "of just an instrument" it does not exist anymore, as it does not exist anymore the relationship of property, management and operation of airships and airports that ruled during the whole XX century. Today airports have their own interests, as legitimate as air operators’ interests, with whom they coincide sometimes, and sometimes they oppose and sometimes they are not even related. Airports rend services at the conditions they are required to do so and they have to answer for it at a universe of characters, that includes but it is not limited to airlines: States, passengers, communities, service renders, authorities, visitors, neighbors, etc. At this complex field of multiple juridical relationships and public and private interest, the rules, principles and values must be favorable and appropriate to the new reality of the airport and of the service it renders. This has it limit at the respect of principles operational safety coming from ICAO and contracting states. Except this, it is necessary to innovate and have useful and efficient rules, to guarantee that the airport service rendered is according to requirements imposed by States. XX century has been the time of air transport and carriers and by virtue of them has been developed aeronautic law. At XXI century, the clock of the industry runs with the time of the airport and airport law. An autonomous airport law, distinguishing of the limited vision and protection of traditional aeronautic codes and of the rules and principles elaborated in light of international and national aeronautic law for the development of air transport and not for airport service. A law of its own that recognizes as a protection value the airport service, the airport and its agents. Our fourth international conference on April 6th to 8th, 2011 strengthens its motto on those reasons and it has been named "Airports, law and economy: towards a comprehensive protection of airports service". We will try to leave our message and in that path know about the legislation and jurisprudence of different countries and courts, to share and debate about ideas, to go more deeply into the knowledge of juridical systems of airports of the world, at an environment of colleagues and friends of all over the world from all the different activities at public and private sectors which make up the industry of airports and civil aviation in general. Come do Dallas. Come to WALA Contact: mpascual@worldairportslawyers.org
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