“This year, airlines and airports will handle more than 3
billion passengers, equivalent to more than 40% of the world’s population.
Accommodating this many people safely, securely and expeditiously, while
delivering even more value to the passenger requires enormous cooperation and innovation,”
said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO. “The World Passenger
Symposium provides an excellent opportunity to bring together all parts of the
travel value chain to address the challenges that we face and to set a vision
for the future of air travel.”
Under the theme “From Service to Value – A Customer Driven
Transformation”, WPS will focus on the overall customer experience. A highlight
of the event will be a report on the status of the New Distribution Capability
(NDC) program. NDC is an IATA-led, industry supported initiative to create an
XML-based language standard for data exchanges between airlines and travel
agents. Implementation of the NDC standard will enable access to all of an
airline’s products and services and the ability to comparison shop among
different features when using a travel agent or visiting an online travel site.
The WPS will feature keynote addresses by Aer Lingus CEO
Christoph Mueller and IATA’s Director General and CEO Tony Tyler. The
leadership panel, moderated by BBC Presenter Rajan Datar, will feature leading
airline, airport, regulatory and distribution experts, including:
· Douglas
Anderson, CEO, Carlson Wagonlit Travel
· Matthew
Baldwin, Aviation Director, European Commission
· Alexandre
de Juniac, CEO, Air France/KLM
· Christoph
Mueller, CEO, Aer Lingus
· Kevin
Toland, CEO, Dublin
Airport
· Gordon
Wilson, President and CEO, Travelport Limited
Other topics to be discussed at WPS include: creating a better
passenger experience; the benefits of social media for air travel; realizing
the security Checkpoint of the Future; passenger rights; serving the connected
traveler; and whether the low cost and network airline models are converging or
diverging.
