The aviation sector is tackling one of its biggest challenges yet: becoming more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Euronews met with the Group CEO of Qatar Airways – Akbar Al Baker- to discuss how the country is meeting the demands of the future.
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00:00 As business commitments to cut carbon emissions accelerate, we speak to one of the biggest
00:05 names in aviation to find out what it takes to make major travel hubs truly sustainable.
00:15 Welcome to this special edition of the Exchange from Hamad International Airport in Doha,
00:20 a place that welcomes over 30 million passengers each year, making it one of the busiest airports
00:27 in the world.
00:29 But the vision here goes far beyond just increasing passenger numbers.
00:34 Just like Zurich, Frankfurt and Schiphol in Europe, the team here are working hard to
00:40 cement their status as one of the most sustainable transport hubs on the planet.
00:48 Sustainability in the sector has increased significantly in recent years.
00:52 One World Alliance members have pledged to reach net zero by the year 2050.
01:00 And all this sustainability should bring with it economic benefits, too.
01:05 A staggering $35 billion is predicted to be saved by the sector going green.
01:14 And recycling green waste is also on the rise.
01:18 Here at Hamad International Airport, an amazing 4000 tons of organic compost is recycled and
01:26 reused every year.
01:29 When it comes to sustainability in the sector, then, it seems that these initiatives are
01:35 really taking flight.
01:38 And top bosses are taking this seriously.
01:41 That's why I'm here at Hamad International Airport, where one of the leading figures
01:46 in the industry has granted me an exclusive interview.
01:51 Your Excellency, thanks so much for joining us on the Exchange.
01:55 Now, you're one of the most recognizable leaders in the industry.
02:01 And you yourself have been very supportive of sustainability, haven't you?
02:06 And it's very obvious what you can do to an aircraft.
02:09 You can build it in a more sustainable way.
02:12 You can fuel it more sustainably.
02:13 But how do you go about creating a green airport?
02:17 What we are doing here is trying to recycle the water.
02:21 If you see all the water that are being used for the plantation around the airport and
02:25 the access roads taken from the treatment of sewage, what we are doing is trying to
02:31 save energy by making the airport very bright during daylight time so that we use less energy.
02:38 As far as the airline is concerned, we are trying to source as much as possible to contribute
02:45 to reduce our carbon emissions.
02:47 This is why we continuously in Qatar Airways invest in new technology airplanes, that every
02:53 time we buy a new airplane, it is 20, 22% more fuel efficient than the previous one.
02:59 So we are doing all what we can, but it is only so much we can do.
03:04 Is it really possible to be commercially successful in the short and medium term and also be passionately
03:11 committed to sustainability?
03:13 Of course.
03:14 We want to protect our planet because this is the future of our children and our grandchildren.
03:20 And nobody is more focused than both Qatar Airways and the state of Qatar is very much
03:28 focused in making sure that we generate as little carbon as possible.
03:33 This is why Qatar Airways continuously invest in new technology.
03:37 We were lucky enough to have you as our first ever guest on this show back in the summer
03:43 of 2021.
03:46 Since then, obviously, so much has happened.
03:48 The industry has emerged from COVID.
03:50 We've had the tremendous success of the World Cup.
03:54 What's next?
03:55 What are the key things that you're looking at on the horizon now?
03:59 To be growing, sustainable, delivering the standard of service that we are so proud of.
04:06 And of course, the airline and the airport is the flagship of my country.
04:12 Thank you so much for joining us again on The Exchange.
04:15 Thank you.
04:16 But it's not just the inner workings of airports like this that's helping the sector to go
04:22 green.
04:23 Companies in Europe are providing components that's helping the industry to become more
04:29 sustainable.
04:30 Our reporter Jack Parrock investigates.
04:32 Yeah, hi, Guy.
04:34 I'm here at Sonica.
04:35 It's a company in southern Belgium.
04:37 Here their priority is greening their production lines.
04:41 They make slats for the wings of airplanes which are used in takeoff and landing.
04:46 They're green in color during production as standard.
04:49 But Sonica says they're also totally in line with the aerospace industry's ambition to
04:53 be green, aiming to be carbon neutral by 2050.
04:57 We first do it because we believe in it.
04:59 I mean, it's very important.
05:01 We have to green the aviation industry.
05:04 It's a survival matter.
05:05 Sonica produces wing slats for over 1,000 new planes per year, as well as other components.
05:12 It's a highly technical process of many steps.
05:15 For them, going green starts with making planes fly more efficiently.
05:19 Making them lighter, improving their aerodynamic performance so that we can reduce fuel consumption
05:25 of aircraft.
05:26 Sonica has also replaced older processes to move away from using harmful chemicals.
05:31 And they're developing battery-powered systems and greener operations here on their production
05:36 sites.
05:37 They've invested more than 30 million euros in the past decade in sustainability projects.
05:41 Compared to 2021, in 2022 we'll reduce our CO2 emission by 15%.
05:47 Reducing emissions is a tall order for the aerospace industry, but the race is on.
05:52 So what do the experts think?
05:53 I caught up with one of Europe's leading travel commentators for his view on the state of
05:59 the sector.
06:00 The airline sector is in one of its best positions ever.
06:05 It's come out of the pandemic being more profitable, with great demand being seen, with sky-high
06:12 prices for air tickets.
06:14 They've never had it so good if you're an airline boss.
06:17 So the sector itself has many reasons to be optimistic.
06:23 Now it's time for our regular feature, Business in 60 Seconds.
06:26 Start the clock.
06:28 Fast food giants McDonald's are set to publish their quarterly results.
06:32 The company had a strong economic performance throughout 2022.
06:37 Their shareholders will be loving it if the results continue on this trajectory throughout
06:42 the year.
06:44 Streaming behemoth Netflix are also set to publish their quarterly results.
06:49 This comes as the platform announced that it's planning to cut $300 million in spending
06:55 after the next year after concern over losing subscribers.
06:59 Let's hope that shareholders will be watching good news come in when the results are published.
07:06 And it's AGM time for Vodafone.
07:08 The telecommunications company is hoping to keep momentum up after posting a large profit
07:13 in the last series of quarterly results.
07:16 With new innovations in the sector, shareholders will be interested in what the company has
07:20 planned for the future.
07:23 The airline sector then remains fiercely competitive.
07:27 But tastes are changing dramatically.
07:30 People want to travel to more and more places across the planet, but to do so without harming
07:36 it.
07:37 And all that means for the sector when it comes to really going green, the work has
07:42 only just started to take off.
07:45 Well that's all we've got time for on this special edition of the show.
07:48 Thanks for watching.
07:49 Please do check out Euronews.com for all your latest business news.
07:53 And join us again next time on The Exchange.
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