International Air Transport Association

Why in News

The 81st Annual General Meeting of the International Air Transport Association and the World Air Transport Summit (WATS) will be held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi from June 1 to 3. The meeting is being held in India after a gap of 42 years.

About International Air Transport Association

• What is it: It is a global trade organisation representing the interests of international airlines.
  • It is the successor association to the International Air Transport Association, which was formed in 1919 at The Hague, Netherlands.
• Founded: 1945 in Havana, Cuba
• Headquarters: Montreal, Canada
• Objective: To make commercial air transport safe, regular, efficient and economical.
• Regional Office: Geneva, Switzerland
• Membership: More than 300 airlines from 120 countries including India
  • These airlines represent about 83% of global air traffic.

Main Functions

• Standardization: Establishing standards for ticketing, paperwork and air safety and facilitating interline agreements between airlines.
• Safety: Monitoring IATA Operational Safety Audits (IOSA) to improve global aviation safety.
• Efficiency: Making air transport operations cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
• Regulatory Representation: Raising the interests of airlines at international forums (such as ICAO, WTO etc.).
• Sustainable Development: Promoting carbon neutrality goals to tackle climate change (such as zero-carbon emission target by 2050).

India and IATA

• Major airlines of India (such as Air India, IndiGo, Vistara etc.) are members of IATA.
• IATA supports digitalisation, security and green aviation policy in the civil aviation sector in India.