IATA calls for growth in Latin American aviation
IATA has launched an industry strategy for the profitable growth of aviation in Latin America, after the region's "remarkable achievement" during the economic crisis.
Giovanni Bisignani (pictured), IATA's director general and chief executive, said: "In the past decade the Latin American industry has been transformed. Today, the region's financial results stand out as positive - delivering US$800 million of profit in both 2009 and 2010. This is a remarkable achievement amid one of the biggest crises that the air transport industry has ever faced.
"But the success of the Latin American industry is based on the leadership of a few countries. Our strategy is to build a solid foundation for future profitable growth by spreading this success more broadly across the region... Profitable growth requires that all aviation stakeholders in Latin America - airlines, airports and infrastructure providers - work with a common vision to achieve our priorities."
The strategy centres around six priorities: safety, security, cost reduction, environmental responsibility and liberalisation.
Safety in the region has improved. There were no accidents involving western-built jet aircraft in 2009, compared to 2.6 accidents per million flights recorded in 2008, but Bisignani called for all governments in Latin America to make IATA's safety audits a "mandated standard requirement".
Security remains an issue for the industry and for governments, said Bisignani, with the Christmas day attempted terrorist attack acting as a wake-up call. In 2009, IATA worked closely with governments and the airports in Bogota and Lima to improve security and reduce wait times. This year the focus will move to Caracas, Sao Paulo and San Jose. "But the challenge is to replace this airport-by-airport approach with regional partnerships that spread best practices," Bisignani said.
Cost reduction is another key area for IATA, with the Caribbean and Nicaragua having recently proposed new tourism taxes. "Instead of partnerships to keep costs down, there is a contagion of rising taxes and charges. We need a reality check. This is a price sensitive business operating on razor-thin margins. We must keep costs low," said Bisignani.
Environmental responsibility will also be a priority for Latin America, said Bisignani: "As we head towards COP-16 [which will be hosted in Mexico this year], I hope that Latin America can help lead the way in two critical areas. The first is improving infrastructure to ensure that our operations are as efficient as possible. That means resolving outstanding issues such as the joint use of military air space. The region is also in a unique position to help build consensus between the developed and the developing world on a global sectoral approach for aviation."
Bisignani also urged all Latin American governments to sign the principles of IATA's Agenda for Freedom, a multinational statement of policy principles on liberalising ownership, pricing and market access in the aviation industry.
"The Latin American industry has led the way with the development of cross border brands which have become some of the region's strongest players. Now governments must catch-up by liberalizing the bilateral systems' archaic restrictions on ownership and market access," said Bisignani.
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