Abu Dhabi will hold the International Air Transport Association’s (Iata) first World Financial Symposium (WFS) for the airline industry, which is expected to be attended by more than 600 financial executives and specialists.

Hosted by Etihad Airways, the event will be held on September 17 and 18 at Jumeirah Etihad Towers.

Experts in revenue accounting, treasury, risk management, fraud prevention and other areas will exchange ideas to identify successful strategies for improved airline financial health.

“Aviation has a global economic impact of $2.4 trillion and transports 35 per cent of goods traded by value—around $6.8 trillion this year,” said Tony Tyler, Iata’s director general and CEO.

“And consumers spend 1 per cent of global GDP on air transport. But there is a mismatch between the value that the industry contributes to global economies and the rewards that it generates for those who risk their capital to finance the industry.”

“This year we anticipate that the average return on invested capital will reach 5.4 per cent. This is an improvement over prior years and reflects successful consolidation and restructuring.

“But investor returns are around $15 billion less than would be expected for an industry such as commercial air transport,” “The World Financial Symposium provides an excellent opportunity to bring together experts from inside and outside aviation to analyze the financial challenges that we confront as an industry,” he added.

Under the theme “Supporting Sustained Financial Health,” the WFS will feature a keynote address by John Luth, Chairman and CEO of Seabury Group, who will also participate in the leadership panel with other top industry financial experts.

Another highlight is the CFO Summit, which is open to senior financial executives from airlines, business partners and key suppliers.

Other topics to be discussed at WFS include transforming revenue accounting; managing risk in a changing world; payment methods and fraud prevention, and building a world class treasury. – TradeArabia News Service