Prague IATA Meeting Plots Way Forward Through New Challenges

摘要

The record number of 450 participants attending the IATA Aviation Fuel Forum in Prague last week reflects how the global lobbying group occupies the front lines of the economic and political forces that are reshaping the aviation industry for the 21st century. Controversy sparked by key items on the agenda, which ran the gamut from biofuels to the influx of banks and trading firms into the refueling business, suggests that adjustment pains are likely to accompany these changes (JFI May 10,p1). IATA's key role in addressing the technical aspects of refueling to ensure that planes don't fall out of the sky provided the backdrop for the technical discussions. That role is likely to be buttressed as the industry adjusts fuel-handling procedures in the wake of the Cathay Pacific accident last April, when an Airbus A330 crash-landed in Hong Kong after contaminants in the fuel stalled the two engines.