The national airline of the United Arab Emirates will host the 18th Anual Conference of the International Association of Airline Internal Auditors in Abu Dhabi, from Sunday, 29 November to Wednesday, 2 December.

It is the first time when the conference is hold at the base of Etihad Airways, after former successful editions held in Americas, Asia and Europe. The most important audit executives and senior audit staffs of the major companies worldwide are expected to be there.

The IAAIA was established in 1991 as a non-profit organization that aims to keep the high standards in the audit processes, for all the professionals within the airline industries. IAAIA currently has members from 70 worldwide airlines and it is a major researcher in several issues thee industry confronts all over the world.

Etihad Airways is part of the executive committee since 2008, when Andrew Fisher, the airline’s vice president internal audit was elected the chairman of the professional body of IAAIA. This year’s conference programme includes important speakers from different airlines and specialized companies that will talk about issues like governance, risk and control.

“In such challenging times, it is more important than ever for internal auditors to demonstrate how they can add value to their respective airline’s business. At this year’s conference we will focus upon ways in which internal audit functions can contribute towards key business objectives such as cost protection and revenue enhancement.”, Mr. Fisher says.