World airlines expected to carry three billion passengers in 2013 – IATA

Both domestic and international airlines are expected to carry some three billion passengers at the end of 2013, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
And the number will double by 2030.
According to IATA, serving this growing demand will require innovation and team work.
“We need to understand what consumers expect and what they value enough to pay for. Aviation is team effort. And that is a challenge for all industry stakeholders. Travel agents, airports, air navigation service providers, regulators, manufacturers, ground service providers, global distribution systems (GDSs) and many others must work together to make each passenger journey as safe, secure, seamless and convenient as possible,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
Tony Tyler said these in an address to the World Passenger Symposium which opened in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates October 16, 2012.
The Association called upon aviation stakeholders to work together to create greater value for customers across the travel experience while enabling greater efficiency for industry participants.
The IATA boss, Tyler, highlighted three priority areas for cooperation to create a more seamless and more interactive modern travel experience and they are simplifying airport processes with fast travel; implementing a checkpoint of the future (CoF) for passenger security and to develop a new distribution capability in line with modern retailing practices.
IATA says it will lead the industry to adopt a new, modern infrastructure that will accommodate more choices for personalized travel offers, provide the foundation for the development of efficient tools for agents and lower the overall cost of distribution.
By Ekow Quandzie