The International Air Transport Association (IATA) divides the world into three distinct geographical regions, known as "Traffic Conferences" (TC), to simplify fare construction and administrative rules. Area 1 (TC1) encompasses the entire Western Hemisphere, including North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and nearby islands like Greenland and Bermuda. Area 2 (TC2) covers Europe, Africa, and parts of Western Asia (including the Middle East and everything west of the Ural Mountains in Russia). Area 3 (TC3) includes the remainder of Asia (East and Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent), Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. These areas are crucial for travel agents and airlines because specific "Global Indicators" are used to determine which set of rules applies to a ticket based on whether it crosses these regional boundaries. For example, a flight from New York (Area 1) to London (Area 2) follows "Atlantic" rules, whereas a flight from London (Area 2) to Tokyo (Area 3) follows "Eastern" rules. These divisions help standardize the complexities of international aviation across diverse legal and economic zones.
The International Air Transport Association is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences that served as a forum for price fixing.