Pak Closing Airspace To Result In More Fuel Burning: SpiceJet Chairman

Budget passenger carrier SpiceJet has voiced concern over Pakistan's decision to close airspace for Indian airlines and termed it a "disturbing phenomenon".

Addressing the UNSDG Climate Summit in Delhi on Sunday, SpiceJet's Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said closing airspace resulted into airlines not only burning more fuel but also higher carbon emissions.

"Several central Asian airlines as well as those providing connectivity to Europe and the US from Southeast Asia were forced to cancel their flights to India due to the ban by our neighbour recently," Mr Singh said.

To protect the environment and businesses, several steps were needed, Mr Singh said. "To make it possible, all of us need to work together. Refineries have to find business models to produce biofuels, the governments will have to give up tax revenues on clean fuels, airports may have to give preferential slots and reduced charges to aircraft that fly on biofuels, nation states may provide preferential routes, and passengers may need to agree to pay a little more for clean flights," Mr Singh said.

"We need to use technology advances like artificial intelligence and machine learning to find new ways to burn less fossil fuels. We need to aggressively pursue the development of electric aircraft for our future flying needs," he said.