Aviation Industry Success Hinges On Environmental Sustainability, Says Malaysian Minister

LANGKAWI (Kedah, Malaysia), March 22 (Bernama) -- The key to aviation success hinges on industry players' collective ability to ensure the environmental sustainability of the industry apart from safety and security. Malaysian Minister of Transport, Liow Tiong Lai, said the growth of the industry must come with responsibility and led by adhering to and improving the environmental and sustainability standards. "This focus on environment permeates all facets of the sector, be it regulatory, manufacturing, services, technical know-how and design, among other key areas," he said at the launch of the ASEAN Aviation Summit here Wednesday. He said sustainability in the aviation sector consisted of three pillars -- sustainable development to be achieved; economic and social development; and, environmental protection. "In the last few years, environmental sustainability development has been increasingly become a critical element among aviation practitioners," he said. He said that air transport's socio-economic impact must now be assessed based on environmentally responsible and forward-looking commitments. Liow said as global demand for air travel and growth in the aviation industry was forecast to increase significantly in the future, this would undoubtedly have a greater impact on environment. "There is a need to balance this increase in demand and the environmental sustainability components. An environmentally-sustainable aviation sector is not optional, it is necessary to tomorrow's success," he said. He said that identifying significant environment risks, especially carbon emission impact of aviation and effectively managing them efficiently through the use of technology, procedures and policy would likely to play an important role in the sustainable growth of the aviation industry. The one-day summit, themed "Global Sustainable Green Aviation", is held in conjunction with the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2017. The summit attracted among others, government representatives, industry regulators, airline and airport players. --BERNAMA