IATA Seeks Adherence to Chicago Convention

IATA Seeks Adherence to Chicago Convention

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged aviation stakeholders to continue to be guided by the spirit of the 1944 Convention on International Civil Aviation, known as the Chicago Convention, in responding to the challenges facing aviation today and in the future.

“Seventy-five years ago, as World War II still raged, a group of far-sighted individuals met in Chicago and laid the foundations enabling the development of our globally interconnected and interdependent world through aviation.

“Today, aviation has become the business of freedom, liberating us to pursue our dreams and fulfill our hopes, while powering economic growth and development,” said IATA’s Director General and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac.

In the United States, aviation supports 6.5 million jobs and contributes $779 billion to GDP including aviation-supported tourism, according to IATA’s just released report on the value of air transport in the US.

Speaking at IATA’s Wings of Change Americas conference, de Juniac outlined principles to ensure aviation continues to live up to the legacy of the Chicago Convention.

In addition to maintaining safety as the industry’s highest priority, de Juniac urged aviation stakeholders to focus on environmental sustainability, ensuring a policy framework that encourages competition and innovation; and infrastructure that is efficient and affordable.

“Environmental sustainability is the greatest challenge to our industry’s license to spread the benefits of air connectivity. We are already helping people to fly sustainably. The environmental impact of an individual traveler has been cut in half compared to 1990, and we have decoupled emissions growth from underlying traffic growth.

“Now we are moving forward on our interim goal of capping net CO2 emissions through carbon-neutral growth. Since 1 January, airlines have been tracking their emissions and they will begin reporting them to governments in 2020 under CORSIA, the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, agreed by member states of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).”

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