Aviation Will Lose Competitiveness if It Is not Sustainable: Gulf Air

(A21 (Google Translation)) Gulf Air CEO Captain Waleed AbdulHameed Al Alawi has warned that carbon emissions are causing rising temperatures. “Ultimately, the extreme weather events that this causes will be a problem for aviation and for all companies. It's a problem we have to solve."

Therefore, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is effective when it is available, but when there is no production, problems arise. Faced with this situation, he acknowledged that he is not aware of any production facility in the Middle East.

Therefore, “when we buy SAF, we buy it in Europe and that is not feasible on a regular basis from a logistical point of view. In addition to the fact that the price of this fuel is very high” , he warned.

As a business, it is not possible to absorb that cost in a competitive market . But it's hard to pass on to the passenger for the same reason. However, someone has to pay: “ We have to solve that challenge soon to create the demand that will improve the supply of SAF”, he commented.

Even so, he indicated, he supports the Fly Net Zero objective for 2050 , and from his company they will do everything possible to reduce emissions, because in the coming years carbon emissions will make the industry uncompetitive.

“Emitting carbon will be expensive, hurt your brand and reduce your customer base. Governments and airports can help. Unnecessary taxes and fees add to an airline's cost base and prevent it from exploring all sustainable initiatives. We are paying a lot of money for policies and services that are not what they should be ,” he noted. READ MORE