IATA

The International Air Transport Association, IATA, is an international association of airlines. Its primary purpose is to represent its member airlines and to promote the reliable and safe air transportation of passengers and cargo.

IATA was founded in 1945 in Havana, Cuba. A precursor to IATA was the International Air Traffic Association was founded in the Hague in 1919, the year when the world’s first international scheduled airline started operating. IATA’s head office is located in Montreal, Canada.

One of IATA’s primary tasks has been to determine and coordinate ticket and cargo prices for international transport, which has taken place under the auspices of the governments concerned. Flight prices are set by way of bilateral agreements between states rather than on market conditions. This made it possible for airlines to accept each other’s tickets. Consequently, the international aviation market was highly regulated, but by the end of the 1970s, people in the US began questioning the exemption of airlines from competition rules. The same later followed in Europe, and now the North American and European markets can be said to be deregulated, which means that price co-operation is no longer permitted.

More information is available on IATA’s website. 

IATA Agency Program

The IATA Passenger Agency Program is a set of rules and a system for accrediting travel agents that meet certain standards and financial criteria. An accredited IATA agent receives a licence number and may issue tickets for travel on IATA-affiliated airlines. Travel Service’s IATA licence number is 80 2105 2-4 and has been an accredited IATA agent since the company started in 1991.

Read more about the IATA Agency Program on IATA’s website