81st IATA AGM: News Coverage
The global airlines association brings its annual meeting to successful closure
June 4th 2025
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) concluded the 81st Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit (WATS) is taking place on June 1-3 2025, in New Delhi, India, hosted by IndiGo. Read More » The return of the event to India after 42 years presented a chance to show the development of the country and its aviation market, said IndiGo’s CEO, and chairman of the IATA Board of Governors, Pieter Elbers. During the summit, the delegates had a chance to learn about the country’s potential and experience India’s culture and hospitality. The IATA AGM and WATS was elevated by the visit and address to the delegates by the country’s leader, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, on Monday, June 2. This year’s discussions among the delegates were dominated by the issue of supply chain delays and the potential impact of the US tariffs on the industry. Elbers commented that although the few days of AGM will not solve the supply delays issue, the event created a good platform for airlines and OEMs to have in-depth discussions.
• Tariffs bring uncertainty, but they did not create a slowdown yet
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) data suggests that airlines so far do not see the impact of tariffs announced by the US.. “The tariff issue is certainly causing people some concern, but it is not translated into any slowdown in demand. The most recent figures that we released for passengers and cargo traffic are very robust and strong. So we are hearing a lot of stories, but we are not seeing any impact on demand either for cargo or passenger traffic at this stage,” Willie Walsh, IATA director general, told Orient Aviation Daily Digest. He said that the issue of tariffs was widely discussed during the IATA 81st Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit (WATS) is taking place on June 1-3, 2025, in New Delhi, India. “Everyone is concerned about tariffs, I do not think it is specific to any one region. It brings uncertainty that exists at the moment. Uncertainty is something that obviously business people don’t particularly like. In our industry, we are used to dealing with a lot of uncertainty. We just want to manage through this period, and get back to more normal operations, which I suspect will happen,” he said. “We’ve clearly wanted to see a situation where aerospace is excluded from any global tariff regimes, and we revert to the 1979 agreement with excluded aviation from tariffs. Because new aircraft are built from a supply chain covering probably 70 countries, it is a very complex supply chain, and it is not something that can be changed overnight. The US is clearly the big winner, the US exports of aerospace products are very strong, net positive for the US economy, and I’m sure the US wants to see that continue.”
• Aircraft teardowns became an important source of aircraft and engine parts
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts that the commercial aircraft disassembly, dismantling and recycling market size is projected to grow from USD8.09 billion in 2023 to USD14.72 billion in 2033. During his presentation at the IATA 81st Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit (WATS) in New Delhi on June 3, 2025, Nick Careen, Senior Vice President, Operations, Safety and Security, said that aircraft teardown helps alleviate bottlenecks in new aircraft and engine deliveries. The IATA MRO SmartHub has hosted more than 270 teardown projects, offering up more than 250,000 spare parts through the platform.
• Amadeus Travel Platform will use emissions data from IATA CO₂ Connect
Amadeus announced that it will integrate flight-specific emissions data from IATA CO₂ Connect into the Amadeus Travel platform. This will allow airlines, travel agents, corporate travel managers, and online platforms that request IATA CO₂ Connect data to provide travelers with a new source of trusted emissions data at the point of booking. “Our agreement with Amadeus will help fulfill traveler expectations for greater transparency as airlines progress towards net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. IATA surveys reveal that close to 90% of passengers expect airlines or travel agents to provide carbon emission data for flights they have booked. Yet, 79% highlight that the carbon calculations provided are not always consistent. Making IATA CO₂ Connect data available through the Amadeus platform will help users make more informed travel decisions using accurate emissions data,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General. This week, Air India, Thai Airways, Atlas Air, Batik Air Malaysia, Batik Air Indonesia, Lion Air, and Thai Lion joined the IATA CO₂ Connect program, bringing the total contributing airlines to 70 and putting the program on track to sign 100 airlines by the end of 2025.
