IATA urges industry, govts to keep aviation safe
KUALA LUMPUR: With air passenger number forecast to reach 8.2 billion by 2037, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called on industry and governments to cooperate closely to keep aviation safe amid the evolving security threats.
IATA director-general and chief executive officer Alexandre de Juniac urged stakeholders to focus on global standards, information-sharing, risk-based analysis and emerging threats to secure aviation for decades to come.
“Flying is secure. But keeping it that way is not an easy task. Threats are evolving. The geopolitical landscape is complex. Technology is rapidly changing. And the volumes of both cargo and travellers keep growing,” he said at the AVSEC World conference in Miami recently.
He said global standards for aviation security were agreed by governments through the International Civil Aviation Organisation and were codified in Annex 17 of the Chicago Convention.
De Juniac said collaboration between governments and industry players was the bedrock of IATA’s continued success.
On information sharing, he said threats would continue to evolve and become ever more complex.
He said the focus of governments must be on protecting people, saying it could not be done with insular thinking.
“We must get better at sharing information,” he said.
“Governments need to pursue risk-based security concepts that focus resources to where the need is greatest,” said de Juniac.
The critical areas include vetting the millions of airport and airline staff with access to aircraft, ending extra-territorial measures that often require airlines to take on government responsibilities and improving the security experience for passengers, even as the number is set to double over the next 20 years.
IATA also called for greater attention on emerging threats, including cyber threats.
The organisation said it would work with airlines, industry stakeholders and other sectors to deliver a strategy early next year that would be “a stepchange in how we as a sector address the cyber threat challenge”.