F
rom a young age, Julien Coffinier was encouraged to travel. Growing up in
Paris, his parents would push him to experience other cultures; seeing him
off to North America, North Africa and the rest of Europe. Today, Julien serves
as the Managing Director of ADP International in Asia–Pacific, the airport
investment entity of the French airport operator group. This time, it gives him
an opportunity to travel from a more professional standpoint.
One of Julien’s favourite destinations is Japan. “I like travelling to Japan because
everything’s smooth and organised,” he says. “The airports are very efficient, likely due
to Japanese passengers’ attitude.” Another country Julien enjoys travelling to is India. In
fact, he had just arrived back from India the morning of the interview. “India is booming
and it’s so dynamic in terms of air traffic,” he says. “There has been double-digit growth
of domestic air traffic in India over the past five years, as well as in other countries in
Asia. It’s so exciting for the future. In 10 years, India will become the third-largest air
market in the world.”
With a background in business and finance, Julien wasn’t interested in the aviation
sector at first. However, what attracted him to Groupe ADP was its complexity. Among
its responsibilities is managing retail shops, roads, parking and, of course, air and passenger
traffic. “No other sector can offer such diversity at the same location and in the same
company,” Julien says. “We usually say it is a ‘system of systems’.”AIRPORT OPERATOR GROUPE ADP PREDICTS EXPONENTIAL
AIR-TRAFFIC GROWTH IS SET TO TAKE PLACE IN ASIA.
AS MANAGING DIRECTOR OF ADP INTERNATIONAL IN ASIA–PACIFIC,
JULIEN COFFINIER IS POISED FOR THAT GROWTH.WORDS SHARON MASIGE • IMAGES NATALIA SEGURAHIGHER
HIGHER
AND
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INNOVATE | Interview