Environmental sustainability in the aviation industry is one of the key issues to be discussed during the upcoming 55th African Airlines Association (AFRAA) Annual General Assembly and summit set to take place in Kampala, Uganda.
The chief executive officer (CEO) of Uganda Airlines, Jennifer Bamuturaki, revealed this in an update on the event, which will take place from November 19-21, with up to 500 stakeholders in the aviation sector expected.
As the facilitator of this year's AFRAA annual general assembly, Uganda hopes to use the opportunity to foster relationships and partnerships that could benefit the country's and the continent’s aviation.
Speaking to journalists, Bamuturaki highlighted that since African airlines are keen on environmental change, the stakeholders at the event will discuss solutions to reduce carbon emissions and different ways of encouraging an environmental sustainability agenda and operations.
"We are going to hear the new ways of environmental sustainability.”
Bamuturaki said it going to be interesting to see how different airlines applies best-practice solutions for industry-related challenges.
She also pointed out that the uptake of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), and how African airlines can normalise its use, will also be discussed.
Bamuturaki pointed out that by 2050 all airlines flying to Europe will be required to use SAF, which includes synthetic fuels, biofuels, renewable electricity, and hydrogen-based fuels, but excludes fuels from crops and feedstock.
As part of the requirement by 2050, aviation environmentally sound fuel suppliers must supply 63% of SAFs for aviation – a figure that is currently sitting at 2%.
She said an important part of the discussions will be how African airlines can afford the new fuel mix requirement, a development that will most likely necessitate airline partnerships.
At least 500 delegates from the whole spectrum of aviation, suppliers, manufacturers of aircraft and other stakeholders are expected to attend the conference.
