Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Airlines across the globe are taking all possible measures to reduce carbon emissions and Qatar Airways (QA) is at the forefront of meeting the target of net-zero carbon emission by 2050, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said on Wednesday.
Delivering speech of the first day of the IATA World Financial Symposium (WFS) that kicked off in Doha on Wednesday, he said all other stakeholders in the industry, including engine makers and oil companies, would need to contribute to achieve this goal.
Baker said, “In this mission, we must think of our future, not only as airlines, but the future of our planet by committing to our mission of net-zero carbon by 2050.”
“As this sector recovers, our collective goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 is an industry-wide collaborative effort,” he said.
Baker noted said that air travel is showing signs of recovery, stressing the need to address the growing challenges and realizing the social and economic potentials o this sector.
Shedding light on what he considered main factors for supporting the recovery of the aviation industry and ensuring its long-term sustainability, he said, “These included the optimum management of financial resources, the strong focus on fuel efficiency through the introduction of new systems and the development of existing systems to properly measure and analyse its impact.”
Baker, however, warned that the global aviation tourism industry would be at risk if the current economic and political conditions continue.
In this regard, he referred to a number of challenges related to those situations and policies, such as high taxes, the lack of sustainable aviation fuel production, as well as improving fuel efficiency and energy transmission, and the lack of human talent necessary to manage aviation sustainability.
He added that there is a serious shortage of human talent necessary to manage aviation sustainability, noting the need to urgently address this shortage by building pools of talent for administrative and professional resources in the field of aviation environmental sustainability.
He called for developing the appropriate infrastructure to keep pace with the demand for air travel.
Speaking during a discussion panel, IATA Director-General Willie Walsh said that the current rise in oil prices will give no choice for the aviation industry’s providers but to increase flight tickets prices.
