John Culatto
TOP air travel bosses are in Gibraltar to tackle the challenges of the industry post-pandemic and the effects of rising fuel prices.
The British Territory’s government hosted the CAPA World Aviation Summit from December 1-2 at the Sunborn floating hotel at Ocean Village.
CEOs of three airlines, the European Regions Airline Association director general and a BBC journalist were scheduled to speak at the two-day event.
Gibraltar’s minister for tourism Vijay Daryanani opened the summit.
“I am delighted to be able to welcome delegates from all over the world to Gibraltar for this extremely prestigious event in the world’s aviation calendar,” Daryanani said in a statement.
“This is an excellent opportunity for us to showcase what Gibraltar has to offer to these top airline executives and put our brand in the upper echelons of this industry.”
This is the first time the summit is held in-person since the COVID-19 pandemic that grounded airlines across the globe.
“The calm climb of the previous decades came to an immediate stop and an industry collapsed into freefall,” CAPA said on its website. “This was a vertical drop. And it didn’t stop, wiping years of growth in a matter of days.”
While the event organisers are happy to see the industry growing again, they are wary of new ‘headwinds’ as they called them.
One of the topics to be covered includes environmental sustainability.
Flying is the most polluting way to travel according to a recent BBC study.
“I am certain this summit will be a huge success and look forward to being able to host many more events of this calibre to Gibraltar in the future,” the Rock’s tourism minister added.
Daryanani hopes to attract new airlines to its large underused airport especially if it can clinch an EU treaty.
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