Willie Walsh probably meant to deliver an upbeat message to aviation executives in Doha this week for the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association. In fact, IATA’s director-general may have unwittingly sent a nervous shiver through the room when he said that air traffic could “exceed pre-pandemic levels” next year.
Having made the commitment in October to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, the industry is quietly panicking about how to reach that target. While carriers will be delighted with the recovery, how much harder will it be to get to net zero if demand is rising far faster than expected?
The aviation industry also has a record of overpromising. A recent report by climate charity Possible found that airlines and aviation bodies have met only one of 50 climate targets in 20 years. Why should this time be any different?