The newly elected chief of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Tuesday said the group looked forward to welcoming more low-cost carriers as the world's leading aviation body ended its annual general meeting in Singapore.
Budget carriers were "an increasing force" in the global industry, said Tony Tyler, former chief executive of Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways, DPA reported.
"All are welcome," said Tyler, who is set to take control at IATA from July 1, succeeding Giovanni Bisignani.
He said there were many issues where it would be better to have all airlines involved in developing industry policies.
IATA comprises some 230 mostly conventional airlines representing 93 per cent of global air passenger traffic.
Only about two dozen current member airlines could be regarded as budget carriers, including Germany's Airberlin and US-based JetBlue, although there was no strict definition of the term, IATA spokesman Anthony Concil said.