Boston (USA), Oct 3 (EFE) .- The International Air Transport Association (IATA, for its acronym in English) begins its 77th general assembly in Boston (USA) this Monday in which the sector will seek a way out to the crisis caused by the pandemic and will chart a roadmap for the immediate future.
The meeting of the directors of the main airlines in the world is the first in person in more than two years and occurs at a time when companies accuse governments of freezing the incipient recovery of the sector with the measures adopted to combat the delta variant of the coronavirus.
The general meeting is expected to be attended in person by the CEOs of US companies such as American Airlines (AA), Delta Airlines and United Airlines Holdings, as well as those responsible for the European airlines International Airlines Group (IAC), which includes British Airways and Iberia Lufthansa and KLM, among others.
In addition, interventions by executives of the two largest aircraft manufacturers in the world, the European Airbus and the American Boeing, have been announced.
However, in a sample of the barriers that the sector still faces, the executives of some of the main Asian airlines, such as Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines (JAL), will not be able to be in Boston due to travel restrictions in the region.
Although IATA, which represents around 300 airlines around the world that are responsible for more than 80% of global passenger traffic, has not provided details of the number of people expected to attend the general assembly, it is expected to be a fraction of those that met in 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic.
The head of IATA, Willie Walsh, said that the general meeting will be a “vote of confidence in the safety of international air travel and health protocols” put in place 18 months ago.
IATA HOLDING THE GOVERNMENTS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESCENT OF TRAVELERS
Industry executives arrive in Boston at a time when IATA has denounced that the recovery of the sector slowed down in August, compared to what was experienced in July, and blamed governments for the “deep” cuts in travel demand domestic.
