|
IATA calls for environmental leadership in Asia
The IATA has called on Asia to play a leadership role in driving the aviation
industry towards carbon neutral growth leading to a zero-emission industry.
"By 2010 Asia will be the largest single market for aviation. With size
comes leadership responsibility. And that includes environment issues,"
said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general and CEO in a keynote address
at the recent Greener Skies for Asia 2008 conference in Hong Kong.
"My focus is on reducing carbon emissions. And reducing fuel burn is at
the heart of the issue. Every litre of fuel we can save reduces CO2 emissions
by over three kilograms. By shortening routes, improving air traffic management
and spreading best practice in fuel conservation IATA helped save up to 25 million
tonnes of CO2 in the last two years," said Bisignani.
"There are lots of opportunities in Asia," said Bisignani citing examples
for innovation from around the region, including the introduction of new air
traffic procedures in Japan, more efficient routings in China and the ASPIRE
air traffic management joint initiative of AirServices Australia, the US FAA
and Airways New Zealand.
Bisignani said that implementation must speed up, noting particularly the air
traffic management system for the five airports in the Pearl River Delta region
of China. "We have seen some improvement in delays in the Golden Triangle
of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong/Guangzhou. But the time required to sort
out the Pearl River Delta's complicated system is frustratingly slow. We appreciate
the co-operation of all involved. But co-operation without results is not effective.
We must speed up with some interim solutions," said Bisignani. Bisignani
identified three opportunities for Asian leadership:
1. Communications: "Asia must avoid the mistakes
we made in Europe by communicating clearly aviation's good track record on the
environment, as well as a relevant and clear vision to governments and the general
public," said Bisignani.
2. Air Traffic Management: "Asia has an opportunity
become a model of best practice in air traffic management. Last year the APEC
Transport Ministers announced a plan to improve air traffic efficiency that
is completely aligned with the industry's strategy," said Bisignani. The
average age of the Asian fleet is 9.8 years, compared to a global average of
11.8. "The region has a head-start with a modern fleet. Now we must drive
improvements in air traffic management by harmonising across the region and
maximising the capabilities of modern aircraft to set a benchmark of efficiency
for others to follow," said Bisignani.
3. Technology investments: Investments in technology
are critical. "Asia's airlines are investing billions in the most modern
and fuel-efficient aircraft available. Governments must also play a role in
driving this further with coordinated basic research into future technologies
- including alternative fuels - to further improve aviation's strong environmental
track record. Asia's enormous sovereign wealth funds could make an important
contribution with some innovative investments," said Bisignani.
"Asia is our industry's future…and it is our today. As we move forward
with the vision towards carbon neutral growth on our way to carbon-free technology,
Asia has a leadership role to play. I am confident that the contributions of
this region will be significant - clearly demonstrating the commitment of our
industry to set a new and high benchmark of environmental responsibility for
other industries to follow," said Bisignani.
|
