Azerbaijan to host IATA conference on safety, flight operations

Asgarov and Schvartzman shake hands during their meeting in Baku in July (AZAL)

By Habib Toumi

Baku: Safety and flight operations will be the main topic to be discussed at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) conference to be held next year in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
The international conference will be hosted on March 31 – April 2 at the Baku Convention Center.
According to reports from the Azeri capital, the sponsor of the conference is Azerbaijan Airlines CJSC (AZAL).
In July, AZAL President Jahangir Asgarov and IATA’s Regional Vice-President for Europe Rafael Schvartzman signed two agreements on cooperation in the field of flight safety.
According to a statement by Azal, the documents provide for a wider implementation of audit programs like IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit), ISAGO (IATA’s Safety Audit for Ground Operations) and GADM (Global Aviation Data Management) and the introduction of the latest standards for the control of flights safety in air navigation.
“AZAL has been a full member of IATA for 26 years. During all those years we have closely worked on flights safety, personnel trainings and application of innovations,” Asgarov said.
“Thanks to the constant attention and support of President of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev, in recent years the security of flights is a prior issue to dynamically developing civil aviation of Azerbaijan. Today the most up-to-date technologies and innovations available at all airports of our country create comprehensive security for flights.”
Air connectivity is on the rise in Azerbaijan with 4.7 million air passengers last year, up 11% from a year ago, and airlines connecting Azerbaijan with non-stop flights to 29 different countries, he added.