Latin America’s aviation leaders to gather in Bogotá for IATA Wings of Change Americas 2025
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has confirmed that the Wings of Change Americas (WOCA) 2025 Conference will be held on June 25–26 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Bogotá, Colombia, with Avianca as the host airline.
This year’s event will take place under the theme “The Connectivity Frontier: Exploring New Opportunities in the Region”, and will highlight the importance of collaboration between the aviation industry and governments to boost regional connectivity and competitiveness. Key discussion areas will include travel and tourism, technology and innovation, operations, sustainability, and distribution.
Confirmed speakers include Frederico Pedreira, CEO and President of avianca, and Peter Cerdá, IATA Regional Vice President for the Americas, alongside several airline executives such as Roberto Alvo (LATAM Airlines Group), Pedro Heilbron (Copa Airlines), Estuardo Ortiz (JetSMART Airlines), Adrian Neuhauser (Abra Group), and Erika Zarante Bahamón (LATAM Airlines Colombia).
In line with the conference’s goal of building solutions across the aviation value chain, the speaker list also features leaders from aircraft manufacturing, tourism, infrastructure, sustainability, and technology. These include Arturo Barreira, President of Airbus Latin America and the Caribbean; Natalia Bayona, Executive Director of UN Tourism; Rafael Echevarne, Director General of ACI-LAC; Natalí Leal, General Manager of OPAIN; Victoria Platt, Vice President of Airline Strategy & Transformation at SITA; Carolina Betancourt, SAF Project Manager at BioD S.A.; Ricardo Bernardi, Partner at Bernardi & Schnapp; Roberto Roselli, CEO of Plus Ultra; and Harris Whitbeck, Minister of Tourism for Guatemala.
According to IATA, the aviation industry is a key contributor to economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean. As of 2023, it supported more than 8.3 million jobs and generated around USD 240 billion in GDP. Forecasts suggest that by 2043, the sector could support 15 million jobs and contribute USD 500 billion to the region’s economy.
Bogotá was chosen as this year’s host city due to the growing importance of the Colombian aviation market. In 2023, the air transport sector contributed USD 15.5 billion to Colombia’s GDP—4.3% of the total economy—and supported approximately 921,000 jobs.
WOCA 2025 marks the 15th edition of the Wings of Change Americas Conference, which is also held annually in other regions. The African edition is scheduled for July 8–9 in Dakar, Senegal, while Europe’s edition will take place November 18–19 in Brussels, Belgium.
More information, including the full agenda and registration process, is available on the official WOCA website. Members of the media seeking accreditation are invited to contact woca@iata.org.
AUTOR
Contando la aviación desde marzo del año 2000. Fundador y Managing Editor de Aviacionline.
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