Outcome of IATA Istanbul Summit

On 26 October 2008 the International Air Transport Association (IATA) issued a Press Release on the outcome of its Agenda for Freedom Summit in Istanbul (see previous post). The opening Remarks of IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani and the Summary of the Chairman, Jeff Shane, are also available.

Three key outcomes are stated to have emerged:

• The participants asked IATA to continue to facilitate this discussion with a second meeting in early 2009 to turn the discussion into action.
• They also asked IATA to facilitate the development of a multi-lateral statement of policy that would be a powerful tool expressing the common thinking and approach of the group of states.
• Finally, the group agreed to spread best practices in liberalisation by making more openly available to all states the most liberal agreements that are being negotiated.

On 30 October 2008 The Economist carried a story on the outcomes.