 "IATA asks govts not to single out aviation for heavy taxation")
Global airlines' body IATA today asked governments across the world not to single out aviation industry for taxes and regulations and to treat it as "any other business".
"One of our key messages to governments will be that aviation should be treated like any other business. We don't want a handout, but we also don't want to be singled out for special fees and taxes, and commercial regulations that chill market creativity and initiative," IATA Director General and CEO Tony Tyler said here.
His statement came just ahead of the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) three-day annual meeting and World Air Transport Summit which began here today.
The conference, being attended by some 700 aviation leaders including chiefs of airlines and aircraft-makers, is discussing issues like aviation safety, environment, distribution and financial sustainability among others.
Among the attendees are Air India CMD Rohit Nandan and Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal, who is also a member of the IATA Board of Governors.
Inaugurating the conference, Tyler said "razor thin margins are characteristic for the airline industry. But achieving profits with the continued weakness in the global economy is a major achievement.
"And if you add the impact of oil prices at over $100/barrel (Brent), the achievement grows. Remember that fuel accounts for about a third of industry costs."
Referring to government policies towards aviation in Africa and elsewhere, he said the authorities tend to see aviation as "an 'elite' product, rather than as a critical component of the continent's economic infrastructure. As a result, it is heavily taxed-often in violation of International Civil Aviation Organization principles that prohibit the taxation of jet fuel for international operations.
Moreover, despite high infrastructure charges, the failure to invest in fuel supply infrastructure has resulted in frequent supply disruptions that cripple the operations.
In issues which have strong relevance to Indian aviation as well, the IATA chief criticised "direct taxes on tickets" in Africa, saying that taxes of various kinds including those on tourism, VAT, sales taxes and infrastructure levies "all make connectivity more expensive."
"This limits the power of aviation to drive economic growth, which would be a much greater source of revenue for governments," the IATA chief said.
The IATA upgraded its global outlook for the airline industry to $12.7 billion profit in 2013 on $711 billion in revenues. This was $2.1 billion better than the $10.6 billion profit projected in March this year.
Tyler said the global aviation industry was growing strongly on routes linked to emerging markets.
"We see strong growth among African (4.6%), Asia-Pacific (4.7%), Middle Eastern (10%) and Latin American (2.8%) airlines."
Growth was slower in Europe (2.2%) due to the ongoing crisis in Eurozone economies and in North America (0.6%) "where the market is mature, carriers are tightly managing capacity and there are still questions about the strength of the economic recovery," Tyler said.
"One of our key messages to governments will be that aviation should be treated like any other business. We don't want a handout, but we also don't want to be singled out for special fees and taxes, and commercial regulations that chill market creativity and initiative," IATA Director General and CEO Tony Tyler said here.
His statement came just ahead of the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) three-day annual meeting and World Air Transport Summit which began here today.
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IATA has a membership of over 240 airlines across the world, that amounts to little less than 90% of global air traffic.
The conference, being attended by some 700 aviation leaders including chiefs of airlines and aircraft-makers, is discussing issues like aviation safety, environment, distribution and financial sustainability among others.
Among the attendees are Air India CMD Rohit Nandan and Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal, who is also a member of the IATA Board of Governors.
Inaugurating the conference, Tyler said "razor thin margins are characteristic for the airline industry. But achieving profits with the continued weakness in the global economy is a major achievement.
"And if you add the impact of oil prices at over $100/barrel (Brent), the achievement grows. Remember that fuel accounts for about a third of industry costs."
Referring to government policies towards aviation in Africa and elsewhere, he said the authorities tend to see aviation as "an 'elite' product, rather than as a critical component of the continent's economic infrastructure. As a result, it is heavily taxed-often in violation of International Civil Aviation Organization principles that prohibit the taxation of jet fuel for international operations.
Moreover, despite high infrastructure charges, the failure to invest in fuel supply infrastructure has resulted in frequent supply disruptions that cripple the operations.
In issues which have strong relevance to Indian aviation as well, the IATA chief criticised "direct taxes on tickets" in Africa, saying that taxes of various kinds including those on tourism, VAT, sales taxes and infrastructure levies "all make connectivity more expensive."
"This limits the power of aviation to drive economic growth, which would be a much greater source of revenue for governments," the IATA chief said.
The IATA upgraded its global outlook for the airline industry to $12.7 billion profit in 2013 on $711 billion in revenues. This was $2.1 billion better than the $10.6 billion profit projected in March this year.
Tyler said the global aviation industry was growing strongly on routes linked to emerging markets.
"We see strong growth among African (4.6%), Asia-Pacific (4.7%), Middle Eastern (10%) and Latin American (2.8%) airlines."
Growth was slower in Europe (2.2%) due to the ongoing crisis in Eurozone economies and in North America (0.6%) "where the market is mature, carriers are tightly managing capacity and there are still questions about the strength of the economic recovery," Tyler said.