Qatar Airways CEO to chair IATA’s board in 2018

Qatar Airways Group announced yesterday that its Chief Executive, Akbar Al-Baker, will has been elected as the chairman of the Board of Governors (BoG) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) effective June 2018.

According to a statement by the Qatari airlines, Al-Baker’s rotating one-year term will commence at the end of IATA’s 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Sydney and will continue until the end of its 2019 AGM.

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He will succeed the current IATA BoG Chairman, Goh Choon Phong, Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Airlines.

IATA represents some 275 airlines comprising 83 per cent of global air traffic.

The national carrier of the State of Qatar is one of the fastest-growing airlines operating one of the youngest fleets in the world. Now in its twentieth year of operations, the company has a modern fleet of 200 aircraft flying to business and leisure destinations across six continents.

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The Qatari airline has been recently forced to fly longer, more expensive routes after being denied access to the airspace of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates as part of economic sanctions. The four countries severed ties with Qatar on 5 June, accusing it of supporting terrorism, something Doha denies.