To mark 100 years of commercial aviation, a re-enactment of the first ever passenger flight on January 1, 1914 will be staged in Florida, global aviation body IATA said today.
"International Air Transport Association (IATA) will be celebrating this important Centennial over the course of 2014, starting by supporting the reenactment of that momentous flight on New Year's day in Florida. The focus of the celebration will be on the value that aviation," IATA chief Tony Tyler said.
On January 1, 1914, the first passenger on a scheduled airline was transported across Tampa Bay in Florida, US.
"It is a story with many characters, Tony Jannus was the pilot. Thomas Benoist built the aircraft. Perceval Fransler was the visionary who conceived the idea of air service. And the hero of the day was Abram C Phell, who bought the ticket for USD 400 proving the concept that commercial aviation creates value," Tyler said.
Together these peoples actions on New Year's Day of 1914 set in motion the development of an industry, which over the next 100 years would change the world enormously, Tyler said.
IATA chief predicts that a total of 3.3 billion passengers will travel by air in 2014, which is half of the world's population.
Today aviation sector supports 57 million jobs and over 3.2 trillion in economic activity besides delivering about 50 million tonnes of cargo that accounts for USD 6.4 or about 35 per cent of the value of goods traded internationally, Tyler said.
