Aviation Industry aims at Africa, @IndiGo6E to Host the 81st IATA AGM 2025 in Delhi

India’s IndiGo (6E) is set to be the host airline for the 2025 Annual General Meeting, which will take place from June 8-10 in Delhi, India. This will be the third time the IATA AGM has convened in the city, having previously held the AGM there in 1958 and 1983.“We [IndiGo] are proud to be host airline for the 81st IATA AGM and look forward to welcoming the global aviation community to Delhi in 2025,” Pieter Elbers, CEO, of @IndiGo6E, commented during the event.
IndiGo was founded in 2006 as a private company by Rahul Bhatia of InterGlobe Enterprises and Rakesh Gangwal, a United States-based expatriate Indian.[3] InterGlobe had a 51.12% stake in IndiGo and 47.88% was held by Gangwal’s Virginia-based company, Caelum Investments. indiGo placed a firm order for 100 Airbus A320-200 aircraft in June 2005 with plans to begin operations in mid-2006.[ IndiGo took delivery of its first aircraft on 28 July 2006, nearly a year after placing the order. It commenced operations on 4 August 2006 with a service from New Delhi to Imphal via Guwahati. By the end of 2006, the airline had six aircraft, and nine more were acquired in 2007. In December 2010, IndiGo replaced state-run carrier Air India as the third largest airline in India, behind Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways with a passenger market share of 17.3%.During a press conference held during the AGM, Elbers assured that the rise of India, spurred by what he calls the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ with the use of Artificial Intelligence, will drive the country to become the world’s third-largest economy within the next few years. A growing middle class and a massive investment plan to build and improve airport infrastructure are also driving traffic numbers up.“Building on aviation as a force for good and India’s unique diversity, we are looking forward to engaging in meaningful dialogues aimed at sculpting the global aviation landscape around important topics such as safety, diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as sustainability, while efficiently delivering the growing global demand for air travel,” Elbers said.The return of the IATA AGM to India follows a series of record orders from Indian carriers over the last two years. During the 2023 Paris Airshow, IndiGo placed  an order for 500 Airbus narrowbody aircraft, and last April, it announced orders for 30 A350-900s. Also, AirIndia  has committed to up to 540 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing.   The Annual General Meeting 2024of the International Air Transport Association has concluded in Dubai, demonstrating the resurgence of air travel as a major player in the global business scenario.The gathering hosted by @Emirates  was the first of its kind in Dubai and brought together over 1,500 participants from over 330 airlines based in 120 countries. Strategic partners, original equipment manufacturers, suppliers, and media representatives attended the event.Reflecting on the unprecedented turnout, Willie Walsh, director general IATA, announced that the 2024 AGM set the stage for a momentous occasion, underscoring the industry’s commitment to shaping the future of aviation around sustainability, equality, safety and the promotion of global standards.The event concludes with a stronger sense of optimism than that of the last gathering in Istanbul in 2023. The airline industry is back after the COVID-19 pandemic and on the path to sustainable profits, although Walsh said, “there is a big gap still to cover.”The director general warned that despite the improvement in the financial forecasts—from 2.7% to 3.1% net profit margin reported in the December 2023 report of IATA, the return above the cost of capital remains weak, 35% below the expected margin. “Earning just US$6.14 per passenger is an indication of just how thin our profits are—barely enough for a coffee in many parts of the world.”After AGM @IATA, the move is focus on #Africa Aviation Industry , IATA announced that the Wings of Change Focus Africa Conference (WOCFA) will return for its second edition under the theme “Towards a More Resilient and Sustainable African Aviation”. WOCFA is taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 2-3 July 2024 with South African Airways as the host airline.”Africa’s aviation market holds immense untapped potential, with expectations for traffic to double in the next 15 years. The Focus Africa Initiative has identified key priorities that, if addressed collaboratively and effectively, will bolster Africa’s aviation industry and enhance its socio-economic impact. A year into the Focus Africa Initiative, we have seen progress in areas such as safety, but there is still a long way to go. This year’s IATA’s Wings of Change Focus Africa Conference builds on this progress by addressing critical areas such as safety, security, sustainability, economic development, and the overall resilience of the industry,” said Kamil Alawadhi, IATA’s Regional Vice-President for Africa and the Middle East.

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