In November 1957, in a small centre located at Calle Belgrama, Buenos Aires, SITA began operations in Latin America. At that time, SITA had three major customers in the region who remain with the company to this day: Aerolineas Argentinas, Varig and Air Cubana. Since then SITA has grown to become the leading provider of IT and communications services to air transport worldwide. Its customer base in Latin America and the Caribbean stands today at 150 with annual sales running at $72 million and there are SITA offices in 21 countries throughout the region.

SITA will return to the place of its birth on July 5 and 6 with a customer event geared towards celebrating successful partnership in the region and reviewing the latest airport and airline technologies as SITA continues to deliver innovation to the heart of the air transport community throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Olivier Layly, SITA Vice President for Latin America & Caribbean, commented, “Success cannot be achieved alone. The purpose of this event is to remind our customers and partners that we could not have reached this 50-year milestone without their support and involvement. SITA is unique because it is the last major provider of IT and communications solutions to the air transport industry which remains in the hands of the industry.

“We have been involved in all the main landmark achievements in aviation over the last fifty years in Latin America from the introduction of CUTE for improved passenger handling to the provision of data link communications for better air traffic management, just to mention two.”

Senior executive from across the industry have confirmed their participation, such as Patricio Sepulveda, IATA Vice President; Alex de Gunten, ALTA Executive Director; CIFAL - Alex Mejia, Executive Director; Ernesto Gutierrez, ACI Latin America & Caribbean CEO; Carlos Stehli, ICAO Deputy Director; Mauricelio Lauand, TAM CIO; Luis Fernando Lopes, Embraer Marketing Strategy Senior Manager; Brig. Ramon Borges Cardoso, Brazil DECEA General Director; Roberto Curilovic, AA2000 International Programs and Business Development Director; Arturo Sanchez, ASUR CIO; Cap. Christian Staiger from LAN, among others.

SITA has 320 employees serving the Latin America & Caribbean region, with offices in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Venezuela, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Curacao, Trinidad. With 50 members in the region, SITA’s top customers include TAM, VARIG, LAN, TACA, COPA, EMBRAER, ASUR, AVIANCA, CUBANA, AA2000, BRAZIL DECEA, ALTERRA PARTNERS, MEXICANA, AEROLINEAS ARGENTINAS, CARIBBEAN AIRLINES, VARIGLOG and AEROMEXICO.

The event “A tribute to partnership” will happen next July 5 & 6 at the Marriott Plaza Hotel in Buenos Aires and is sponsored by Access Keyboards, Desko, IER, Delta Airlines, Lenovo, Samsung and Level 1 Fujitsu. For detailed program information, visit www.sita50yearslac.net.
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