78th IATA Annual General Meeting begins in Doha

The 78th IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) began in Doha on Sunday as global airlines simultaneously recover from the Covid-19 crisis.The event, hosted by Qatar Airways, attracts the industry’s most senior leaders from among IATA’s 290 member airlines, as well as leading government officials, strategic partners, equipment suppliers, and media.The World Air Transport Summit (WATS) opens immediately following the AGM this morning. A highlight will be the third edition of the ‘Diversity and Inclusion Awards’ sponsored by Qatar Airways.These awards recognise organisations and individuals who are making a difference in helping to drive the industry’s ‘25by2025’ initiative to make the aviation industry more gender balanced.The WATS will also feature the popular ‘CEO Insights Panel’ moderated by CNN’s Richard Quest and featuring Adrian Neuhauser, CEO, Avianca, Pieter Elbers, CEO, KLM, Akbar al-Baker, Group Chief Executive, Qatar Airways and Jayne Hrdlicka, CEO, Virgin Australia.In addition to the updated industry economic outlook, key topics to be addressed include: the War in Ukraine and its implications for the globalized world; the challenges to achieving sustainability, including net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and reducing the use of single use plastics, allocating scarce airport capacity, and ensuring safe carriage of lithium batteries.This is the fourth time that the AGM is hosted in the Middle East. In normal times, aviation in the region supports some 3.4mn jobs and $213bn in economic activity.“Since we were last in Doha, the region has only increased its importance to global connectivity. According to the most recent figures, the region’s airlines account for 6.5% of global international passenger traffic and 13.4% of freight movements. Much of this growth has occurred in the Gulf region, as is typified by our host airline,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, HE Akbar al-Baker said, “It is an absolute privilege to be hosting our industry partners in Qatar Airways’ home city, particularly during our milestone 25th year of operations.“Coming together face-to-face provides us with the opportunity to discuss lessons learnt from our recent years during the pandemic, global issues affecting us all in the here and now, and to plan the best way forward for the industry.”