18 May 2014 (Geneva) - The top leadership of the air transport industry will be gathering in Doha from 1 to 3 June 2014 for the IATA 70th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Airport Transport Summit.

The IATA AGM is the highest level event in the airline industry with many of the Association’s 240 member airlines CEOs in attendance, along with the top management of industry partners and key government stakeholders. This is only the fourth time that the IATA AGM will be held in the Middle East, following AGMs in Amman, Jordan (1997), Tehran, Iran (1970), and Cairo, Egypt (1946). 

Qatar Airways, a longstanding IATA member, is hosting the event. Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker, has served on the IATA Board of Governors since 2012. The Emir of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, has agreed to be the patron of the AGM in Doha.

“The AGM will be a big event for aviation in the Middle East, and particularly for the airlines based in the Gulf region. These carriers, including Qatar Airways, have been at the core of a major shift in global aviation. In just over a decade, the share of global traffic accounted for by Middle East airlines grew from 4% to 9%. Much of this growth has been realized here in the Gulf,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.  

About 1,000 delegates and journalists are expected to attend the AGM. The program includes a CEO Forum on the first day of the AGM, featuring David Barger, CEO, JetBlue Airways; Ivan Chu, CEO, Cathay Pacific; Andreas Conesa Labastida, CEO, Aeromexico; and Willie Walsh, Chief Executive, International Airlines Group.  CNN International Business Correspondent Richard Quest will moderate the session.

“This AGM will be a special one because the commercial airline industry is celebrating its 100th birthday. The governments in the Gulf are among those strategically using aviation as an economic catalyst. And I think that it will be a great place not only to celebrate our first 100 years, but also to look ahead to aviation’s next century,” said Tyler.