Aviation industry leaders in Beijing
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) 68th IATA Annual
General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit will open in
Beijing, China on Monday 11 June 2012. The event will bring together
some 650 leaders of the global aviation industry for two days of intense
discussions on the industrys most important issues.
Oil prices are high, although moderating somewhat from recent peaks.
The European sovereign debt crisis is unresolved and we are seeing signs
that it is starting to affect Asias export-driven economies. And the
largely jobless recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis is
proceeding at a glacial pace. Passenger demand is strong, cargo is weak
and the industrys profitability remains razor thin, said Tony Tyler,
IATAs Director General and CEO.
In March, IATA announced its industry outlook for a $3.0 billion
profit on $633 billion in revenues for a net margin of 0.5%. On Monday,
the association will revise the outlook taking into consideration the
volatility over recent months.
"Beijing is a fitting location for this years AGM," said Tyler. "It
is IATAs home in North Asiathe location of our largest regional office
and largest billing and settlement office, with 132 million tickets
processed in 2011. But even more importantly, China is a great aviation
success story. The governments strategy of using aviation to drive
economic growth has seen China emerge as an aviation powerhouse."
One-half of the industrys aggregate profits in 2011 were earned by
Chinese airlines and three of the worlds 10 largest IATA member airlines
by passengers are based there.
China is the second largest airline market in the world with 300
million travelers and industry revenues of $57.6 billion last year. To
support further growth, it is in the process of adding 70 new airports
between 2011 and 2015 with 97 airports to be built by 2020.
Air China is hosting the event. This is the second time that the AGM
will be held in China. The first was in 2002 in Shanghai at the
invitation of China Eastern Airlines. |