Urgent measures are needed to protect civilian aircraft flying over conflict zones or other areas where military tensions are high, a UN independent human rights expert said on Thursday.
The UN Secretary-General has called for greater support for the aviation sector, badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, to allow it to better weather the global economic crisis sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In normal times, the world’s airlines would be carrying nearly 2 billion international passengers this year. That’s 5.7 million a day. But with the COVID-19 pandemic gripping the planet, these are not normal times. In its latest analysis of the economic impact of novel coronavirus on global commercial aviation, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) warns of a potential overall reduction of 872 million to just over 1.3 billion international passengers – if signs of recovery emerge in late May.
United Nations flags flew at half-mast around the world on Monday to honour the more than 150 people killed in Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines crash, including at least 21 UN workers.
Greener or more environmentally-friendly airplanes can bring benefits to nature and society and help reduce poverty; that’s according to Nancy Young, an aviation expert appointed by the UN Secretary-General to provide recommendations on sustainable transport.
The UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is hoping to achieve carbon neutrality within the industry by 2020 by “moving forward” technology, operations, infrastructure and alternative fuels.
Aviation is a “catalyst or enabler” of sustainable development, according to the head of the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
In September last year the international community agreed new development goals known as the SDGs.
The ICAO chief, Liu Fang, says aviation can play a key role in the realization of those goals.
Maoqi Li began by asking her what has been done to increase safety in the industry.
An airplane that runs entirely on solar power, is circling the globe with “no fuel, but much energy” according to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.
The plane, Solar Impulse, and its two project founders and pilots, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, touched down in New York this week as part of their journey around the world.
They were greeted by the Secretary General, who voiced his support for their project.
Janie Cangelosi reports from JFK airport.
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