The International Air Transport Association (Iata), the trade association for the world's airlines, will hold its 70th Iata Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit in Doha from June 1 to 3.

This year’s AGM will be held as Iata celebrates 100 years of commercial aviation. The global airline industry is on track to deliver profits of $18.7 billion, the highest absolute profit in the history of the industry. But for an industry that generates $745 billion in revenue, that’s a net profit margin of just 2.5 per cent, said an Iata statement.

The cyclical economic upturn is supporting a strong demand environment, compensating for the challenges of higher fuel costs related to geo-political instability. There are also other risks: countries tightening monetary policies as well as introducing regulations that dampen travel demand. Nonetheless, the industry continues to move forward to meet its targets on improving safety and security, environmental sustainability, and cost-efficiency, the statement said.

The Iata AGM and World Air Transport Summit is open to accredited media. Programme highlights include:

•    The Iata Director General’s State of the Industry address

•    Updated industry financial forecast

•    CEO Insight Panel

•    Panel discussions on key issues in the region and globally

•    Media briefings

-    TradeArabia News Service