Abta has backed new transport secretary Justine Greening despite her public opposition to a third runway at Heathrow.
The London MP was moved to the transport brief from the Treasury, where she was responsible for reforming Air Passenger Duty, after Philip Hammond was moved to replace Liam Fox as defence secretary.
Meanwhile, London Mayor Boris Johnson has called on Greening, who campaigned against expansion of Heathrow, to back his ambitious plans for a giant £40 million hub airport in the Thames Estuary.
Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “The industry is at a critical juncture as we await the Government’s final position on Atol reform and as it begins to renew its aviation policy.
“Justine Greening is not new to transport policy and in her last role was responsible for reforming Air Passenger Duty.”
He added that Greening “demonstrated a clear grasp of our sector” when she appeared at Abta’s Travel Matters conference this year.
“She spoke clearly about the Government’s position on aviation duty and we look forward to the same forensic approach being applied to transport policy,” said Tanzer.
“She knows that our sector is critically important to the UK economy. We also look forward to working closely with her on Atol reform in the coming weeks and months.”
Abta expects the Department for Transport to publish its final position on Atol reform shortly.
Since the close of a consultation the association has been working closely with officials in the DfT but it will be ministers who sign off the final position.
Abta head of public affairs Luke Pollard added: “In addition to a new secretary of state for transport our sector also has a new minister at the treasury, Chloe Smith MP, responsible for APD.
“As part of the A Fair Tax on Flying campaign Abta will continue to lobby against the double inflation increase planned in April and the additional cost of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme being added to ticket prices.”