Aviation Forum

Richard is a litigator specialising in complex, international legal disputes in the aviation sector. Examples include aircraft and engine finance and repossession, lease and charter, maintenance, regulatory investigations, insurance claims and fraud. He has over 20 years of experience of acting for a range of major aviation market clients, including banks, lessors, airlines, parts companies, tour operators and air charter brokers.

Richard served as Chairman of BACA – The Air Charter Association (2016-2019), is a Fellow of the RAeS and a member of ISTAT, ERA and the Aviation Club.

Richard is integrated into the wider aviation finance team, which makes him uniquely placed in the market to provide specialist aviation finance advice on contentious situations. 

Lara is an aviation industry professional with 20 years experience working in consulting and industry association roles. An experienced leader and passionate advocate for the air transport sector she has worked in both the airport and airline business, with excellent understanding of their needs and the regulatory landscape. Currently IATA’s Area Manager for the UK and Ireland, a role that encompasses the operational, strategic and policy interests of IATA's 320+ airline members, as well as the commercial relationships that underpin the travel sectors success.

Prior to this role Lara led IATA’s work on airport slot activities across the organisation for 12 years, responsible for designing the strategy and priorities to support schedule planning at capacity constrained airports. Previous work as an airport planning consultant provided international experience, assisting in the design of future layouts and terminal areas as well as due diligence for airport privatisation projects.

Christopher has been Policy Director of AOA since 2020.  He has worked on policy issues across the interests of the UK airport sector, including carbon, noise, accessibility, resilience and security, as well as the Covid shutdown and recovery from it. Previously he was Head of UK Policy at the Freight Transport Association where he led on policy issues across road, rail, sea and air freight.  Prior to FTA, he worked for almost 10 years in public affairs for a consultancy.  He started his career as a researcher in the House of Commons.

Julia rejoined ABTA as Public Affairs Manager on 1 September 2022, joining the team to continue advocating for Members’ interests in Westminster and beyond. Before ABTA, Julia worked at the European Parliament for an MEP and then at the Civil Aviation Authority. Julia is also a former local councillor. 

Alessandro Ciancimino has been working in the transportation industry for over 30 years in different capacities ranging from management consulting to information technology and product strategy.

Alessandro currently leads Sabre distribution business in EMEA, managing the commercial relationships with all the airlines domiciled in EMEA relative to the distribution of their travel content through the Sabre GDS. His objective is to grow the business during a pivotal change in the business dynamics as the technology that enables travel distribution is changing significantly.

Before the current appointment, Alessandro has held several different positions at Sabre, including heading the global management consulting business, sales and account management in EMEA and product strategy.

Prior to Sabre, Alessandro worked at Datamat (an Italian system integration company) and McKinsey & Company.
Alessandro holds a PhD in System Engineering (Operations Research) and a master in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy.

Alessandro lives in London, UK, and loves playing football, tennis and skiing and of course spending time with his wife and children.

Thom is Senior Public Affairs Manager UK at easyJet, where he leads the airline’s public affairs strategy across Westminster and the devolved administrations, driving political engagement on key aviation policy issues such as sustainability, airspace reform and consumer rights. Prior to joining easyJet in 2022, Thom spent nearly five years at ADS, the trade association for the UK’s aerospace, defence and security sectors, where he rose through a series of senior public affairs roles, shaping policy and stakeholder engagement in highly regulated industries for some of the UK's largest manufacturers. Earlier in his career, Thom worked in Parliament for a Member of the Labour Shadow Cabinet, alongside public affairs roles in higher education and social care sectors.