Dreamliner crash shadow over IATA meet in Kolkata
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Kolkata: Air transport, airline and travel agent officials in Kolkata attending a workshop on Friday wore black armbands and observed a minute's silence to pay respect to the crash victims.
The workshop was held jointly by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing within the travel trade community. The formal discussion was about industry updates on the passenger load factor, busiest routes and how India had emerged as the third-largest domestic airline market globally, but the shadow of the Dreamliner tragedy hung over the room with everyone wondering how the aviation and travel trade industries would overcome the crisis.
"A day after a tragedy of such magnitude, it is impossible to seamlessly discuss something else. Although air travel is supposed to be the safest form of transport globally, the Ahmedabad crash will have a direct impact on air travel for the next few days. Many are rescheduling their air travel, and there have been some cancellations as well," said TAFI national committee member Anil Punjabi. "We mourn the loss of lives of the passengers and cabin crew.
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A senior IATA official, who explained how the Middle East was now the busiest route from India with 15 million travellers in 2024, surpassing Asia Pacific (12 million), Europe (9.8 million), and the US (4.8 million), pointed out the crash would dent global air travel but the sector was likely to undergo a resurgence soon. "There will be a direct impact. But the aviation sector has bounced back from any situation. It was proved after the Covid," he said.
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