Conflicts of interest: A. Gogali has received honoraria for presentations and consultancy fees from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, ELPEN, GSK, Novartis. K. Kostikas has received honoraria for presentations and/or consultancy fees from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, CSL Behring, Chiesi, ELPEN, GILEAD, GSK, Menarini, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi Genzyme, Specialty Therapeutics, WebMD; his department has received funding and/or grants from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Innovis, ELPEN, GSK, Menarini, Novartis and NuvoAir; he reports advisory board participation with Chiesi; and he is a member of the GOLD Assembly.