Panama, April 30th, 2019 - The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) announces that, effective today, Pedro Heilbron - Executive President of Copa Airlines and Vicepresident of ALTA's Executive Committee - assumes the interim Presidency of ALTA until the next elections, according to the statutes of the association.

Luis Felipe de Oliveira, ALTA's Executive Director, comments: "Pedro Heilbron has been President of the ALTA's Executive Committee twice and we are sure that his leadership will bring once again important value to the activities the association has been carrying to be more effective and to promote the true value of aviation as an economic and social engine for the region".

"I am pleased to assume the interim presidency of ALTA, with the objective of further strengthening the roles of commercial aviation and connectivity as strategic axes for the development and promotion of Latin American markets, generating new and greater opportunities for commercial and tourist investment", comments Pedro Heilbron, Executive President of Copa Airlines.

"We want to deeply thank Hernán Rincón for role performed during nearly two years as President of ALTA's Executive Committee. In this period of important transformations for ALTA, Hernán played a fundamental support role in the establishment of our headquarters in Panama and the implementation of a profound cultural change so that today we have a much more efficient team and a strategy that allows the association to focus on what is relevant to our members and the industry, expanding the value that air transport generates to the populations we serve", adds de Oliveira.

ALTA is a private non-profit association serving the aviation industry whose objective is to develop a safer, more efficient, and sustainable air transport in Latin America and the Caribbean, maximizing the impact of aviation on the social and economic development of countries and populations served. The association brings together 32 airlines operating in Latin America and the Caribbean, 58 affiliated members providing services and technologies in the region and 5 partners that join collaborative efforts so that aviation reaches its full potential.