DOHA: The aviation industry in the Arab region would come out with a common agenda for the region to press their demands at the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Summit.

The Industry leaders of the region began a two-day meet, ‘Sky Blue - The Arab Aviation Summit’ here yesterday to identify their priorities ahead of meeting the target set by the UN in the emission reduction by the global aviation industry by 2020.

Mohammad Al Alji, Director General, Arab Civil Aviation Commission (ACAC), said that the outcomes of the Doha meet would lay foundation to the aviation industry’s agenda at the Copenhagen Climate Summit. The meet would come out with a unified vision about the Climate Summit, he said.

Mohammad Al Alji said an estimated one billion passengers are flying through the Arab region’s airspace yearly, in addition to the movements of 4 billion tonnes of cargo. Still the emission rate of the Arab region is very low compared to other regions. But the region is still gearing up for a major cut of the CO2 emission by 2010.

Abdul Wahab Teffaha, Secretary General, Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO), said Arab aviation is the friendliest to the environment because it uses comparatively new fleet of aircrafts. Arab aviation industry is taking the lead in voicing its social responsibility and actually implementing it by trying to find alternative energy methods similar to what Qatar Airways had done with Shell & Rolls-Royce in their Gas to Liquid (GTL) flight.

Underpinning the aviation industry’s commitment to reducing the emission cut, Teffaha said: “It is true that the aviation industry has the smallest negative impact on the environment vis-à-vis the other transportation modes. It is also true that the aviation industry has made tremendous achievement in terms of reducing that impact, In spite of this unblemished record, the industry needs to play a positive role.”

Addressing the opening session, Abdul Aziz Al Noaimi, Chairman, Qatar Civil Aviation Authority said the region’s Aviation industry’s efforts to minimise the impact of climate change is already well known in the aviation research sector.

Al Noaimi said that the development of alternative energy is one of the major tools in its bid to impose a major cut on the emission rate. Qatar has made great headway in the development of alternate fuel.

THE PENINSULA