Airlines' ambitions & actions need to gain altitude

Like their peers elsewhere in the world, notably in the West, Middle East carriers have begun to move towards sustainability. However, global aviation industry needs to urgently scale up their ambitions and actions in going green.

- Ranvir Nayar

The last few months have seen a string of announcements by various airlines in the Middle East reinforcing their move towards introducing sustainability across the entire value chain. On January 30, Dubai-based Emirates said that by 2030, sustainable aviation fuel will power 50 pc of all its fuel supply. The same day, the airline also operated its first demonstration flight on a Boeing 777-300ER, powering one of its engines with 100 pc Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

Meanwhile, in the neighbouring Emirate, Abu Dhabi, a number of companies joined hands to launch a feasibility study that could lead to the region's first commercial production of sustainable aviation fuel, developed by using municipal solid waste and renewable hydrogen.

The companies involved in the landmark venture include smart city Masdar, Abu Dhabi's state-owned oil company, ADNOC, British oil giant BP, Abu Dhabi waste management company Tadweer and Etihad Airways. The companies say that besides SAF, other products such as renewable diesel and naphtha could also be produced during the process. Months earlier, Etihad had also become the first commercial airline in the world to sign a partnership with World Energy, a carbon-net-zero solutions provider to establish a long-term strategic partnership to decarbonise flights through in-sector emissions reductions.

In neighbouring Qatar, the national carrier Qatar Airways has committed to becoming a NetZero airline by 2050, in line with an agreement piloted by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) at COP27 climate change summit in Glasgow in 2021.