Doha: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced Wednesday that nearly 1,000 leaders of the air transport sector will attend the 70th General Assembly meeting and the world summit for airports in the Qatari capital Doha from June 1 – 3.

The event is being hosted by Qatar Airways under the aegis of the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani.

Tony Tyler, Director General and CEO of IATA said: “Doha will be a center for the air transport sector during the coming week. The leaders of the sector will discuss a number of important issues related to commercial aviation, like safety, security, the environment, distribution and financial sustainability between the related parties.”

After IATA there will be a meeting for the International Federation for Air Transport Companies. The General Assembly meeting for IATA is the most prominent event in the air transport sector in the world, as over 240 international airlines that are members of IATA and that operate 84 percent of the international air traffic will participate in it. Leaders from different authorities related to the industry including governments and partners will join them.

Tyler added: “You will notice a unique atmosphere during the General Assembly meeting. Members of IATA will come from all parts of the world. IATA members vary between air transport companies that own wide international networks to smaller regional companies that compete with one another in an extremely difficult work environment. But when they meet in the General Assembly meetings they focus on the industry and taking the best decisions so as to guarantee success in the future.”

This will be the fourth time the General Assembly meeting is hosted in the Middle East. The sector in the region is supported by about two million jobs and $116 billion of economic activity. The General Assembly meeting will be a big event for the aviation sector in the Middle East, especially for Gulf airlines.

Tyler further said: “Air transport for passengers is registering a better performance than air cargo. When we compare it with the results for April 2013, the air transport movement for passengers registered a growth of 7.5 percent. Also, the airlines were able to achieve this through efficiency in operation. About 79.4 percent of the seats were occupied.”

Tyler added: “As to air cargo, growth reached 3.2 percent. We have witnessed a big improvement in air cargo after a period of economic recession, but it calmed down fast. We expect the volume of goods transported by air to reach 52 million tons. This has not changed since 2010.”