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The head of Qatar Airways voiced scepticism on Tuesday over an aviation industry target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, citing inadequate supplies of Sustainable Aviation Fuel and alternative hydrogen designs in their infancy. "I don't think that we will be able to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Everybody's talking about it, but let us be realistic - there is not enough production of sustainable aviation fuel," CE Akbar Al Baker told the Qatar Economic Forum, organised by Bloomberg. The warning by one of the industry's most high-profile leaders come days before global airlines are due to discuss how to implement the climate pledge at an annual meeting of the IATA in Istanbul in June. Because aviation emissions are seen as hard to abate without radical technology, the main focus has been on "drop-in" fuels that can be placed in the existing generation of jet engines, like plant- or waste-based SAF and synthetic alternatives. "Really the only significant contributor by way of change in technology is Sustainable Aviation Fuel. That's the only thing that moves the needle between now and (2050)," Boeing CE Dave Calhoun told the same Doha event. In a stand-off with the energy industry over supplies available for aviation, airlines are concerned that a gap would hamper efforts to reach the target. There is also little consensus on who should pay to ramp up production, while some environmental groups say the plans are too modest. Airbus is promoting efforts to develop a small commercial airplane powered by hydrogen by 2035. Boeing's Calhoun said such technology would mature only in the second half of the century.<br/>

Cathay Pacific fired three flight attendants after a swift probe of recorded comments that went viral in China, showing crew members disparaging passengers who didn’t speak English. The airline terminated the three just hours after initiating an investigation over allegations of discrimination. In a statement late Tuesday, CEO Ronald Lam apologized to the affected passengers and vowed “zero tolerance” for violations of company rules and standards. A passenger on the Sunday flight from Chengdu to Hong Kong recorded audio of an attendant allegedly saying that if people couldn’t say “blanket” in English, they shouldn’t be able to have one. The comments are followed by laughter in the background. Authorities in Hong Kong, where Cathay is based, expressed “deep concern” to the carrier. “The incident is a serious breach of Hong Kong’s reputation for service excellence, long-standing values and ethical standards,” Lam Sai-Hung, Transport and Logistics secretary, said in a statement released late night. Cathay said earlier it had contacted passengers to investigate the incident. A passenger who posted the clip on the social-media platform Xiaohongshu didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but in a subsequent post wrote that Cathay executives had called her to learn more about what happened on Flight 987. Cathay will ensure all employees respect passengers from all backgrounds and provide professional services in a uniform way, the carrier said in the statement. Lam will lead a review meant to prevent similar incidents from happening again. The autonomous region’s government urged Cathay to complete its review as soon as possible and to make fundamental improvements to the company’s mechanisms and staff attitudes, according to the statement.<br/>