The International Air Transport Association (IATA) ensures the regulation of specific standards in airline transportation, both for passengers and cargo. At this point, working with institutions that are IATA members or agents is a symbol of international trust. Now, keep reading to find the answers to all your questions!
What is IATA?
IATA, which stands for International Air Transport Association, is an international trade organization that supervises tariffs and authorizations for both passengers and cargo in airline transportation.
What is an IATA Code?
The code assigned to airports in airline transportation for cargo and passenger transport supervision is the IATA code. The acronym IATA stands for International Air Transport Association. In order for the codes to be acquired, the relevant airport must meet the ICAO requirements. In addition to this, IATA codes are assigned not only for airports but also for airline companies.
What is an IATA Certificate?
The IATA certificate is a document certifying that airline businesses comply internationally with safety and flight security standards. The price of the IATA certificate, which is obtained as a result of fulfilling approximately 900 criteria, varies from year to year.
What Does IATA Do?
IATA ensures that airline companies and individuals traveling by air receive safe and efficient service. Supervising the implementation of standards in airline transportation, IATA controls the tariffs and authorizations carried out for cargo and passenger transportation within this scope.
IATA Establishment and History
Even though IATA was established in 1919, it took its current shape after the Second World War. In 1945, it started operating with 57 members from 31 countries in the capital of Cuba. While only airline companies in Europe were members when it was first founded, it became active across continents when Pan America became a member in 1939.
Over time, with the increase in the number of members, IATA began to hold an important place in international aviation activities. The legal system maintained by IATA is oriented towards protecting consumers. Issues such as the price policies determined for flights and how airline companies will share their revenues in connecting flights are within the scope of the organization's duties.
Today, clarifying many issues with international regulations, the organization measures compliance with standards through its audits. In addition to all these, it is accepted as the successor of the International Air Traffic Association founded in The Hague in 1919, and continues its services at this point with over 270 members from 140 countries.
Where is the IATA Headquarters?
The headquarters of IATA is located in Montreal, Canada. In addition, it has administrative offices in Geneva, Switzerland. It has regional offices in various cities around the world, such as Amman, Buenos Aires, Dakar, London, Bangkok, Singapore, Nairobi, Washington D.C., and Rio de Janeiro.
What are the Conditions for IATA Membership?
The most basic rule among the IATA membership requirements is to be an airline company. To apply for membership, the airline business must have been operating for at least two years. Additionally, the firm is required to be registered in IATA operational safety systems and pass audits.
A non-refundable payment of 15 thousand dollars is requested from airline companies that wish to be among the members of the organization. Once the application process is completed and the firm is accepted for membership, it must pay an additional 15 thousand dollars. Subsequently, companies maintaining their membership pay a total of nearly 13 thousand dollars in annual membership fees. As a contribution share, each company is expected to pay 500 dollars.
What is IATA's Environmental Policy?
The International Air Transport Association, which has members from almost every part of the world, has commitments regarding aviation fuels and as solutions to global warming. There are three points on which all members agree regarding this matter. Grouped on an annual basis, these three points are as follows:
• Increasing the fuel efficiency rate by 1.5% each year between 2009 and 2020,
• Setting an upper cap on carbon emissions resulting from aviation activities starting from 2020,
• By 2050, reducing the net carbon emission rate by 50% compared to 2005 levels.
What are the Benefits of Being an IATA Member?
The biggest benefit of being an IATA member is expanding global network connections. Also helping to increase popularity and reliability, IATA membership ensures a reduction in costs. Member firms can benefit from many communication campaigns through the organization, as well as participate in various seminars and training programs.
Which Airline Companies in Turkey are Members of IATA?
IATA member firms in Turkey can be listed as follows:
• Turkish Airlines
• Pegasus Airlines
• AtlasGlobal
• Onur Air
• FreeBird Airlines
• Sun Express
• Corendon
• MNG Airlines
What is an IATA Agent?
Travel and cargo agencies can obtain IATA accreditation by meeting the necessary requirements. Thus, the operation between agencies and airline companies becomes easier. Agencies with IATA accreditation can sell domestic or international flight tickets of member airline companies. The accreditation in question also makes billing and payments between transport providers and airline companies more organized through the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) program.
The accreditation certificate received as an IATA agent provides recognition for institutions in international agreements. This is because it allows using the organization's logo in correspondences made by its agencies. Furthermore, through this accreditation, institutions can participate in various training programs by benefiting from airlines' special discounts.
How to Become an IATA Agent?
The first requirement to become an IATA agent, which has quite a lot of advantages, is to have a travel agency operation license in the connected country. This is because information about this certificate is requested in the application form.
After filling out the application form and gathering the requested documents, an application can be made by paying a certain fee. The application fee varies among countries. Following the evaluation of the application, agencies that receive a positive response can become IATA agents by paying the registration fee and the annual membership fee.
What are the Duties of IATA?
The general duties of IATA, which features characteristics such as audits related to ticket prices and efficiency practices, can be listed as follows:
• Ensuring that the equipment used at airports complies with standard requirements,
• Determining standards related to airport terminal design as well as operations,
• Auditing agency commission and service fees,
• Auditing ticket prices,
• Determining procedures for cargo transportation,
• Providing expertise in terms of efficiency, safety, and compliance,
• Preparing an environment where member countries can discuss their issues,
• Maintaining competition among airline companies,
• Determining standards regarding ground handling services,
How are IATA Codes Determined?
The 3-digit codes given by the organization to IATA-member airports are determined based on the city and airport name. Although the code system consisted of 2 letters in the 1930s, today a three-letter code system is used due to the increased number of airports. The fact that the last digit of the IATA codes of some airports is the letter X results from this situation.
In addition to airports and airline companies, special baggage tag codes are also created for passengers' luggage. The purpose of creating such a coding system is to prevent situations such as lost suitcases.
IATA codes are like the communication language in aviation activities. Much information, from the departure and arrival points of flights to which company they will be operated by occurs, is identified through these codes. Thus, transportation becomes easier internationally.
What are the IATA Codes of Airports in Turkey?
You can learn the IATA codes of airports in Turkey by reviewing the table below.
Airport IATA Code Adana-Şakirpaşa Airport ADA Ağrı Ahmed-i Hani Airport AJI Amasya Merzifon Airport MZH Ankara Esenboğa Airport ESB Antalya Airport AYT Balıkesir Koca Seyit Airport EDO Batman Airport BAL Bingöl Airport BGG Dalaman Airport DLM Denizli Çardak Airport DNZ Diyarbakır New Airport DIY Elazığ Airport EZS Ercan International Airport ECN Erzincan Airport ERC Erzurum Airport ERZ Gaziantep Airport GZT Gazipaşa Airport GZP Hatay Airport HTY Istanbul Atatürk Airport IST Istanbul New Airport ISL Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport ADB Kahramanmaraş Airport KCM Kars Harakani Airport KSY Kastamonu Airport KFS Kayseri-Erkilet Airport ASR Konya Airport KYA Malatya-Erhaç Airport MLX Mardin Airport MQM Milas-Bodrum Airport BJV Muş Airport MSR Ordu-Giresun Airport OGU Sabiha Gökçen Airport SAW Samsun Çarşamba Airport SZF Sinop Airport NOP Sivas Nuri Demirağ Airport VAS Sulaimaniyah Airport ISU Şanlıurfa GAP Airport GNY Tekirdağ Çorlu Airport TEQ Trabzon Airport TZX Skopje Airport SKP Van-Ferit Melen Airport VAN
IATA codes, which facilitate communication in airline transportation, ensure that you are certain of your destination no matter where you are in the world. You can identify airports using these codes and verify the safety of your preferred airline company travel based on these codes.
How to Become an IATA Cargo Agent?
To apply to become an IATA cargo agent, a minimum of 6 months of commercial activity must have been maintained. Apart from this, there are documents that must be submitted during the application. These documents can be listed as follows:
• Application form (A physical signature and stamp on the document are mandatory)
• Operation license
• Certificate of registration with the chamber of commerce
• Trade Registry Gazette
• Current account balance sheet (Must be stamped by the relevant tax office)
• Dangerous goods transport certificate
• Air cargo transport introductory course certificate
• Letter of guarantee obtained from the bank
In addition to the submission of documents, the membership application fee must be deposited. The application fee for an IATA cargo agent is 1,550 Swiss francs. This fee, deposited during the application, is non-refundable if the application is not approved. After the approval of the application, a registration fee of 385 Swiss francs is paid. For IATA cargo agents, the annual fee is 465 Swiss francs, and the Ombudsman commission fee is 95 Swiss francs.
What Should Be Considered in the IATA Cargo Agent Application?
In the application made to become an IATA cargo agent, it is highly important that the documents to be submitted are signed and stamped uniquely by the individual. In addition, approval must be obtained before the application documents are sent to the IATA headquarters. Since the documents are sent physically, the necessary checks must be made to verify that all information is complete.
In our country, many business-related titles can be found under a company's name. At this point, it is crucial for IATA that the title code in the official document from the chamber of commerce matches the description of the business. Therefore, the title of the cargo company applying must be air cargo transportation. Otherwise, you will only waste time with the application process.
How is the Process After the IATA Cargo Agent Application is Approved?
Once the compliance of your physical official application documents is approved by IATA, a request is made to the relevant units of Turkish Airlines (THY) to audit your company. Following the receipt of the audit request by THY, you will be audited within 20-30 days. No advance notification is made for these audit operations.
If there are no missing items in your documents, you will not experience any issues. If there are missing documents, you will be given additional time to complete the required files. Once all criteria regarding the documents are met, a number and authorization will be sent to your firm in writing by IATA. Since the arrival of the written document might take a while, you can use the email sent by IATA in your Civil Aviation transactions.
Can You Become an IATA Cargo Agent Right After Receiving the Authorization Certificate?
The authorization certificate sent to the cargo agent by IATA is valid for 5 years. During this validity period, the agent is required to employ specialized, experienced personnel at all airports where it has received authorization. Additionally, to fully hold the authorization certificate, various information and documents must be submitted to the Ministry of Transport.
Once the authorization certificate is obtained, companies must also assign at least one staff member related to security at their headquarters. Specialized personnel to be located at branches must have completed cargo security and civil aviation training. If the employee specified as an expert is one of the company partners, various notary-approved information and documents must be provided.
