Qatar Airways named official carrier of the 2011 World Future Energy Summit
Airline To Fly Delegates From Across The Globe To Premier Clean Energy Industry Event In Abu Dhabi – By Novell Zwange – Abu Dhabi, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Qatar Airways, the national airline of the State of Qatar, has been named Official Carrier of the 2011 World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi this month.
Picture Caption: Qatar Airways has been named Official Carrier of the World Future Energy Summit being held in Abu Dhabi this month. Pictured at the signing ceremony of the sponsorship are, from left: Qatar Airways Senior Vice-President Commercial GCC, Levant and Iran, Ali Al Rais, and President of Reed Exhibitions Middle East, Frederic Theux
The fourth annual summit, which takes place between 17 – 20 January, is held under the patronage of H.H. General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and hosted by Masdar – the Abu Dhabi-based company focused on developing commercially scalable sustainable energy solutions.
This year’s four-day event is expected to attract thousands of visitors to the UAE capital. Close to 25,000 people from 148 countries attended last year’s summit, including world leaders, policy makers, investors, academics and members of the media.
Delegates and attendees will meet to collaborate and discuss sustainable solutions for today’s energy security and climate change challenges. A series of plenary sessions, panel discussions, master classes and project case studies are planned, with the opening ceremony featuring addresses from His Royal Highness Crown Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg, His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco and His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, Masdar.
Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said the airline was proud to make its debut as the Official Carrier of the summit. The airline currently operates five flights daily between its Doha hub and Abu Dhabi.
“Implementing environmentally-friendly practices is a creative challenge for every industry. Through forums such as these, global industry leaders, academia, members of the business community and media can raise the profile even more of environmental achievements and best practices,” said Al Baker.
The airline is a key proponent of renewable energy solutions being the first and only carrier in the world to fly a commercial passenger flight with Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) renewable fuel in October 2009. The use of the GTL fuel blend proved more efficient emitting lower carbon dioxide (CO2) due to its reduced fuel burn, reduced soot and almost zero sulphur dioxide, improving the local air quality around busy airports.
The new fuel will eventually be produced at the world’s largest GTL plant being built in Qatar, and will be readily available to any airline in the world.
Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 94 aircraft to 95 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North and South America.
By 2013, the carrier plans to serve 120 destinations worldwide with a fleet of 120 aircraft averaging three years old.
Qatar Airways was recently voted as third best airline in the world following the annual Skytrax survey of 18 million international passengers. In the survey, the airline was also voted as having the best Business Class service and catering in the world, as well as being honoured as the Best Airline in The Middle East for the fifth consecutive year.
Qatar Airways also became the first airline to receive the Staff Service Excellence Award for the Middle East. The new award replaces the Best Cabin Staff in the Middle East category, which Qatar Airways has won for the past seven years. The expanded category now includes airline staff at all passenger touch points, including onboard, reservations, check-in and airport personnel.
Qatar Airways has orders for 80 Airbus A350s, 60 Boeing 787s and 32 Boeing 777s, with deliveries of the latter having started in November 2007. The airline is one of the customers of the twin-deck Airbus A380 ‘super jumbos’ with five on order and scheduled for delivery from 2012, by which time the New Doha International Airport would have opened. For more information, visit www.qatarairways.com.
