28 February, 2019: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has appointed Ma Tao as its Regional Vice President (RVP) for North Asia from 1 March 2019.
Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO will be Ma’s reporting head and he will join IATA’s Strategic Leadership Team at IATA’s North Asia Regional Office in Beijing.
Ma has more than 30 years in aviation. He currently works for the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) where he is the Head of the Airworthiness Certification Centre of CAAC. He was also appointed as the Permanent Representative of China to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) from 2006-2017. During his tenure at ICAO, he held various key positions including as the Chair of the Technical Cooperation Committee (2008-2009), the First Vice President of the Council (2010-2011), and the Chair of the Working Group on Governance and Efficiency of the Council (2013-2015).
“I am passionate about aviation and its potential to assist in the development of North Asia. Having been fortunate enough to spend nearly a third of my career representing China at ICAO, I know first-hand how important global standards are to international aviation. And I am determined to strengthen IATA’s relationship with China and the region’s stakeholders as we focus on ensuring that aviation is safe, secure, efficient and sustainable,” said Ma.
Ma has graduated from Civil Aviation University of China (1983) where he majored in Aviation English. He also has a master’s degree in aviation safety management in a joint programme of the Civil Aviation University of China and Ecole Nationale de L’Aviation Civile.
“We are very excited that Ma Tao will be joining IATA. He brings with him deep knowledge of the aviation industry, China and ICAO. The North Asia region has enormous potential. Under Ma’s leadership, IATA can contribute to the region’s success by promoting global standards, efficient regulations, and quality infrastructure. China, already the world’s second largest aviation market, looks to the industry to play a key role in its strategic development. The challenge is keeping pace with the phenomenal growth,” said de Juniac.