New Infrastructure Key to Aviation Industry’s Health, IATA Says

Aviation infrastructure is not being built quickly enough in many parts of the world to meet the growing demand, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says.

In the keynote speech today to the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit, IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said that infrastructure challenges must be addressed to ensure a healthy future for the industry.
In the Asia-Pacific, top concerns are a lack of airport capacity in Jakarta, Indonesia; Bangkok; and Manila, Philippines, he said.

“At the other end of the spectrum, we have [Seoul, Korea’s] Incheon Airport,” de Juniac added. “They recently added runway and terminal capacity without raising charges for airlines and passengers.”

Ensuring adequate infrastructure in the region is especially crucial in light of projections that by 2036, 7.8 billion people will travel by air, compared with an estimated 4.3 billion this year, IATA said.

In his speech, de Juniac also said 2017’s “stellar” safety record could be improved, “particularly as our data analysis capabilities grow. I would like to imagine a future for aviation with no accidents.”