IATA was founded in Havana, Cuba, on 19 April 1945. It is the prime vehicle for inter-airline cooperation in promoting safe, reliable, secure and economical air services - for the benefit of the world's consumers. The international scheduled air transport industry is more than 100 times larger than it was in 1945. Few industries can match the dynamism of that growth, which would have been much less spectacular without the standards, practices and procedures developed within IATA.
At its founding, IATA had 57 members from 31 nations, mostly in Europe and North America. Today it has some 320 members from 120 nations in every part of the globe.
April 2023: 78 years of working together with our member airlines.
The modern IATA is the successor to the International Air Traffic Association founded in the Hague in 1919 - the year of the world's first international scheduled services.
History episodes from the start
> Growth and development
> A two tier IATA
> From a new trade association to a new strategic thrust
> Ensuring the viability of air transport
> A force for good
> The business of freedom