ncluded Türkiye’s Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan; Chair of the IATA Board of Governors and Pegasus Airlines Vice-Chairperson of the Board and Managing Director, Mehmet T. Nane; IATA Director General, Willie Walsh; and Pegasus Airlines CEO, Güliz Öztürk, along with government officials, industry representatives and aviation professionals from Türkiye and many other countries.

Event, bringing together the key European and global aviation players to discuss, debate, and agree on the way forward on some of the most important topics, such as:

State of the industry: Covid-19 consequences, the war in Ukraine, soaring jet fuel prices, inflation… the air transport industry is not spared from the many geopolitical and industry-specific challenges posed in its quest for recovery. How can and how will it face the new reality and ensure its competitiveness and connectivity?

Sustainability: Climate change has become an absolute priority and the airline industry is committed to Fly Net Zero. What role for European aviation and how does it plan to address the barriers among which insufficient production, availability, and high prices of Sustainable Aviation Fuels?

Infrastructure: Capacity continues to constitute a major headache in Europe, but regulators and users will need to find solutions together, particularly in the skies, to ensure aviation continues to deliver its many benefits to passengers, societies, and economies in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility: Making global air travel more diverse and fully accessible is not only the right thing to do but makes perfect business sense. Our speakers will discuss and share insights on what is needed to achieve this high priority item.

Building Back Together: Tourism and Aviation are intertwined and need to agree on the way forward to ensure the successful partnership is sustained and sustainable. In addition, key priorities such as Slots and Consumer Rights will be addressed.

Delivering the opening speech on the first day of the conference, Chair of the IATA Board of Governors and Pegasus Airlines Vice-Chairperson of the Board and Managing Director, Mehmet T. Nane, said: “The past few years have been the most difficult of the aviation industry to date. We have experienced and learned a lot. Now it is the time to recover and build back stronger than ever. We firmly believe in the power of working together to shape the future growth of a safe, secure and sustainable aviation industry that connects and enriches our world. We all have the power to achieve this and to make it happen, as long as we join forces and stand shoulder to shoulder. That is why a united aviation ecosystem is vital, because only then can we build on each other’s strengths and achieve far greater things than we can individually, from innovation and diversity to safety and sustainability.” He continued: “Stakeholders from across the aviation sector are united on the need for regulations which promote the coexistence of different business models, encouraging healthy competition and maximum consumer choice. Türkiye is a good example of how to grow national connectivity and allow different kinds of carriers to succeed. And what is crucial is that policies for growth go hand in hand with sustainable solutions.”

Türkiye’s Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Dr. Ömer Fatih Sayan, said: “As a country we have the geographical advantage of being within a four-hour flight distance to 67 countries with 1.6 billion people and 8 trillion dollars of trade volume. Combining this strong geographical advantage with our strong airlines, comprehensive maintenance centers, modern airports, promising aviation training centers, and well-trained personnel, Türkiye is in a great position to become a world leader in aviation. New ideas and policies that are to be discussed here during this event will determine the roadmap of European aviation in the coming period. We believe that all challenges can be overcome first with regional and then with strong global cooperation.”

Güliz Öztürk, CEO of Pegasus Airlines, who also spoke at the event said: "As Pegasus Airlines, we are delighted to host IATA Wings of Change Europe, one of the most important aviation conferences in the European region. At this important event, we come together with aviation professionals from all over the world to exchange ideas and discuss highly significant issues that will shape the future of our industry. I am pleased that we can emphasize the importance of an inclusive and diverse corporate culture within the global aviation industry and underline that companies should be prioritizing these issues. I look forward to witnessing the positive outcomes that this gathering will bring”.

And IATA Director General, Willie Walsh, said: “Europe, just like the rest of the world, relies on air connectivity, which is vital for society, tourism, and trade. Business users of the European air transport network - large and small - have confirmed this in a recent IATA survey: 82% say that access to global supply chains is ‘existential’ for their business. And 84% ‘cannot imagine doing business’ without access to air transport networks,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, and continued: “We should be focusing on incentivizing SAF production in the greatest quantities at the lowest cost, wherever that may be.”

Prof. Dr. Ahmet Bolat, Chairman of the board, Turkish Airlines delivered a speech on the critical role of Turkish Aviation in IATA Wings of Change Europe conference. He stated that in addition to its leadership position as a global aviation powerhouse, Türkiye’s air transport industry is critical for the country’s economy and its export including of services.

SunExpress Signed the IATA 25by2025 Global Initiative for Gender Equality in the Aviation Industry

SunExpress Signed the IATA 25by2025 Global Initiative for Gender Equality in the Aviation Industry first day of the event. Commenting on the subject, SunExpress CEO Max Kownatzki said, “As SunExpress, it is of great importance for us to provide a working environment that encourages diversity and inclusion that allows the development of our colleagues. Providing equal opportunity to everyone is among our top priorities. For this purpose, we established our Diversity and Inclusion Committee, a first in the Turkish aviation industry, where our employees work voluntarily. We are now reinforcing our commitment in this area by signing this important initiative. Our female colleagues work hard at every stage of our operations in the air and on the ground, and we are proud of this. We will continue to move our brand forward by providing more opportunities for them to increase their contribution.”

IATA Managing Director Willie Walsh said, “I am pleased to see SunExpress's commitment to promoting gender diversity in the aviation industry as one of the signatories of the IATA 25by2025 initiative. “As an industry, we are committed to improving the gender balance in aviation, and we will make progress by transforming the 25by2025 commitment into results.”

SunExpress, which supports the initiative, commits to reporting diversity indicators every year and increasing the representation of women, especially in senior positions.