IATA Announces Theme for 2024 Wings Of Change Europe (WOCE) Conference

The flagship event, which is due to take place at the Marriot Hotel in Rome between 20 – 21 Nov. 2024, will focus on furthering competitive and sustainable European aviation.

Talks with Industry Leaders

Industry leaders from across aviation and key stakeholders in governance will join IATA Director General Willie Walsh and  Guest Moderator, CNBC’s Janina Landau to discuss topics including taxation, operations, sustainability, and digitalisation.

Attendees will also have the chance to hear from Special Guest Speakers Henry Wilkinson of SIAS, Pascal Saint-Amans of Brunswick, and Thomas Reynaert of IBM who will review geopolitical, taxation, and AI trends respectively.

Other speakers due to appear at the 2-day conference include:

• Filip Cornelis, Director for Aviation, European Commission
• Hugo Espirito Santo, Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Portugal
• Oliver Luksic, Parliamentary State Secretary for Digital and Transport, Germany
• Diantha Raadgers, Senior Policy Advisor, Aviation, for the Ministry of Infrastructure, The Netherlands
• Luis Gallego, CEO, IAG
• Carsten Spohr, CEO Lufthansa
• Andrea Benassi, Managing Director, ITA
• Arndt Schoenemann, Chairman and CEO, DFS
• Ourania Georgoutsakou, Managing Director, Airlines for Europe

Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General said:

“Europe’s prosperity is inextricably linked to its competitiveness. Europe’s politicians are finally waking up to the erosion of competitiveness after years of over-regulation. With the next European Commission aiming to kick-start a European renaissance, Wings of Change Europe will focus on policy options to strengthen European aviation’s competitiveness. The significance of a strong aviation sector was highlighted in the recent Draghi report which noted how aviation ‘enables the prosperity of other branches of the economy.’  It is that vision which must be strategically developed with regulators and industry working side-by-side.”

More about IATA and the Wings of Change Europe (WOCE) Event

Founded in 1945, The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is a trade association of the world’s airlines.

It aims to provide a good and efficient service for passengers and airlines. Focus areas for the organisation are safety, Simplifying the Business (one outcome of this initiative being the electronic ticket), the environment and consultancy.

As of 2023, it represents 317 airlines from over 120 countries.

The IATA Wings of Change Europe (WOCE) is an annual event in which the biggest names in European aviation are brought together with key political decision-makers to discuss the preeminent issues the industry is currently facing.

What do you think are the main issues currently facing European aviation?  Share your comments below!