The Diplomat
Iberia’s corporate director, Juan Cierco, admitted yesterday that aviation taxes for flying or using kerosene will cause an increase in ticket prices and doubted that their application will serve to reduce CO2 emissions. During his speech at the round table ‘Challenges of tourism in the ESG’ of the I Tourism Forum organized by Europa Press he also called for the elimination of the face masks on board airplanes.
Cierco pointed out that “we are the only country next to China and some others that obliges” and added that “if we have filters and the air in the plane is regenerated as in an operating room, the time has come to raise our voice and remove the masks from the planes, because it is starting to affect tourism and business”.
“I do not question the scientific criteria that make us keep this mask, but in none of the countries around us such as France or the UK, or long-haul travel in Latin America or the US, in no country with a level of concern for citizens is it obligatory to wear it,” added Iberia’s head of communications.
“Many international passengers say they prefer to fly with other airlines or that they prefer to fly to other destinations because they are not willing to spend a ten-hour flight with a mask when it is no longer necessary due to health conditions,” he concluded.
Among the solutions to reduce emissions, he pointed out that it is necessary to “improve intermodality” because Spain has one of the best high-speed train networks in the world and the best airport terminals such as the T-4 of the Adolfo Suarez airport in Madrid. For this reason, he stressed that the AVE has to reach the T-4, which “would mean a 20% saving in emissions”. He also suggested that the Government and the European Union should invest in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), since “there are few factories” in Europe.
