With size comes responsibility

THE International Air Transport Association (IATA), has called on Asia to drive carbon neutral growth turning aviation into 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 chief executive officer, in a keynote address at the Greener Skies for Asia 2008 conference in Hong Kong.

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 cooperation of all involved. But cooperation without results is not effective. We must speed up with some interim solutions,” 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.

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