 |
| |
Qatar Airways CEO: Net-zero Unattainable By 2050 | |
| Sumita Pawar |
The CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, has expressed skepticism over the aviation industry's target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, citing inadequate supplies of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and alternative hydrogen designs in their infancy.
 |
Al Baker's warning comes ahead of the International Air Transport Association's annual meeting in Istanbul in June, where airlines will discuss how to implement the climate pledge.
“I don’t think that we will be able to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Everybody’s talking about it but let us be realistic - there is not enough production of sustainable aviation fuel,” Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker told the Qatar Economic Forum, organized by Bloomberg.
“Really the only significant contributor by way of change in technology is Sustainable Aviation Fuel. That’s the only thing that moves the needle between now and (2050),” Boeing Chief Executive Dave Calhoun told the same Doha event.
While Airbus is promoting a small commercial airplane powered by hydrogen by 2035, Boeing's CEO, Dave Calhoun, said such technology would only mature in the second half of the century. Airlines are concerned about a potential gap in energy supplies for aviation, and there is little consensus on who should pay to ramp up production.