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In 2022, the Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) will host its annual show at the Dubai Airshow | |
| Staff Writer |
Top players in the business aviation market will get together to discuss current trends and show off their cutting-edge aircraft and aviation technologies.
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United Arab Emirates: DUBAI Members of the international business aviation community are preparing for the most impressive MEBAA Show to date, which is being held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports, and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group.
"The business aviation industry has seen amazing growth over the last five years, and this has opened up huge prospects for innovation," said Ali Ahmed Alnaqbi, Founding and Executive Chairman of MEBAA - the Middle East & North Africa Business Aviation Association. Just a few short weeks remain until this major event in the business aviation industry, which will provide the perfect setting for showcasing innovative technologies and solutions, making connections with influential figures in the field, and learning about the trends that will determine the direction of the industry going forward. We're excited to have industry leaders join us and help propel business aviation to new heights.
The newest data and research on the Middle Eastern business aviation industry, with a spotlight on the KSA and UAE, will be presented by Richard Koe, managing director of WINGX Advance GmbH, at the MEBAA show. He has previously commented, "Business aviation demand in the Middle East and North Africa has undergone an unparalleled upturn in the last few years." In the Gulf Region in particular, a speedy response from policymakers to the pandemic in 2021 allowed for an early escape from lockdown and provided a haven for tourism despite the widespread disease. Business aviation appears to be playing a significant role in the area's development toward its long-term potential as a global gateway for trade, commerce, and tourism connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe. Business jet connections with cities in Africa, Asia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have grown rapidly at WINGX, joining the more established links with those in Europe. At December's MEBAA conference, we hope to have a conversation about these developments.
The Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) Show 2022 is the next major event on the global business aviation calendar, and it will provide a forum for discussing and showcasing cutting-edge developments in the business aviation industry, such as eVTOLs, digitalization, tokenization, and crypto-based payments. Executive Lifestyle, Tahseen, Ecommpay, VOO, Mirai Flights, Liberty Aviation, Prime Trip Support, Flight Consulting Group, AAL AG (Altenrhein Aviation), and AAS AG (Atlas Air Service) are just a few of the more than 20 new exhibitors at this year's exhibition.
Founder and President of Helipass Frederic Aguettant said, "The MEBAA show is always a great moment in the business aviation calendar, offering the perfect platform to network with members of the community and showcase our innovative solution, that helps operators sell empty seats and makes helicopter and jet flying more affordable." His presentation is titled "The Future of Business Flying," and it will take place on the first day of the show. We're excited to share our vision for the future of business aviation, the growing significance of digital technology, and the environmental revolution brought about by eVTOL in helicopters at the inaugural BizAv Talks conference.
With cutting-edge technology as a top priority, the expansive exhibition hall will include a wide range of brand-new aeroplanes. Aircraft such as the Boeing 737, Dassault Aviation FALCON 8X, Bombardier Global 7500, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation G700, Embraer Praetor 600, and Phenom 300E are just some of the many available.
There Are Three Major Environmental Concerns With Qatar 2022
Getting fresh water for agriculture and human use in arid Qatar requires desalination, which is the primary environmental concern surrounding this year's World Cup. The "greenness" of this strategy is complicated by a number of aspects, despite its apparent environmental friendliness. Carbon emission is an inevitable environmental consequence of the widespread usage of fossil fuels in desalination. Desalination is an important technology, but it is also a major source of marine pollution since it discharges brine, a highly concentrated salt water solution, into the ocean. Desalination poses a threat to coral reefs and other marine ecosystems because it disrupts the saltwater environment and kills microorganisms. The high pressure system involved in the process also poses a threat to small marine species, which could be fatally injured or killed if they are pulled in and hit the screens in the intake pipes. The enormous pressure on desalination is already being compounded by the World Cup's use of 8 stadiums and 130 training grounds. It is predicted that Qatar will improve its water supply by 10% during this time. Each grass would need to be watered with at least 10,000 gallons of desalinated water per day, according to a Reuter story. Critics believe that this added stress is unreasonable given Qatar's existing water scarcity.
There's also the issue of FIFA's carbon neutrality claims. Environmental watchdog group Carbon Market Watch (CMW), which has partnered with organisations including the European Union to monitor carbon emissions, has labelled FIFA's assertions as deceptive. CMW questioned the impartiality of a new carbon certification standard developed for the event and published its findings on the organization's website.
According to Gilles Dufrasne, Carbon Market Watch's head on global carbon markets, "it would be amazing to see the climate effect of FIFA World Cups being considerably reduced." "But the claim of carbon neutrality being made is simply not credible."
In addition, he stated, "despite a lack of transparency, the evidence suggests that the emissions from this World Cup will be considerably higher than expected by the organisers, and the carbon credits being purchased to offset these emissions are unlikely to have a sufficiently positive impact on the climate."
Greenpeace Middle East's Julien Jreissati made similar accusations, calling the organisers' claims of net-zero emissions "greenwashing" and "window dressing."
The spokesperson also mentioned that carbon credits would be used to compensate for the inevitable emissions produced during tournament preparation and hosting.
Given Qatar's small population and limited geography, CMW's analysis also questioned the long-term effects of World Cup stadiums. Seven of the eight stadiums are completely new, while the eighth was considerably remodelled at a cost of $1.5 billion. Seven new stadiums have been built, with six of them being permanent and one being temporary (Stadium 974). The total capacity of the post-tournament stadiums is 155,500, a significant drop from the 380,000 capacity it had for the World Cup. Despite this, the Daily Mail says that Al-Sadd, the most successful football side in the country, draws an average of 1,500 fans per home game in Doha when they play in the Qatar Stars League. The second most popular team in terms of spectator numbers is Al-Rayyan, which draws an average of 708 fans per game. This low level of football interest has led some to suggest that the environmental cost of building these stadiums is not worthwhile. Reports indicate that new stadium construction contributes only 5.5% of World Cup emissions. To compare, the six permanent stadiums only received 206 kilotons of carbon dioxide equivalent, whereas the temporary stadium received 438 kilotons. CMW questioned the methodology behind this number, noting that the six permanent stadiums have much lower emission statistics. The environmental group offered light on the accounting approach that led to this "apparently irrational" result. Initially, the six new stadiums' emissions were broken down into two groups: those associated with the installation of temporary seating and those associated with the actual construction of the stadiums (excluding the temporary seats). The former numbered 202 kilotons, whereas the later comprised a mere 4.5 kilotons. More importantly, no precise data was supplied on how 4.5 kilotons were computed, despite the fact that the second category was dependent on the timing of stadium use during the World Cup and two FIFA Club World Cups in 2019 and 2020. However, 1.62 megatons of emissions are predicted by CMW from these six stadiums. To put this in perspective, the reported figure is only a fraction of this. The permanent stadium and the new ones contribute up to 2.06 megatons of emissions, according to CMW. The environmental cost of the stadiums will always eclipse their legacy for this and other reasons.