Morocco’s airlines RAM will launch a tender by the end of the year to purchase 200 airplanes to be delivered within 10 years to meet rising demand from tourists ahead of the 2030 World Cup, RAM CEO Abdelhamid Addou said on Monday. RAM seeks to buy mostly medium haul planes, but would also purchase long and short-haul ones to bolster its competitiveness in a growing African market, Addou told Reuters. The tender is part of RAM’s plan to quadruple its fleet from 50 aircrafts within a decade, prior to Morocco co-hosting the 2030 World Cup together with Spain and Portugal. “What we have already prepared for 2030 will put us in a very good position to host this World Cup,” Addou said on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. RAM, one of the largest airlines in Africa, already connects some 50 African airports. The airline has played a key role in facilitating Morocco’s investment push in Africa, where the north African country’s major banks, telecom companies and phosphates and fertilizers manufacturer are operating. RAM has also said its expansion is conducive to Morocco’s aims to attract 17.5m tourists by 2026, up from 11m last year. In 2019 Morocco had 13m visitors. Plans to privatize or list RAM in Casablanca stock exchange are “not for the moment… Let’s first start by developing the airline and making it much stronger,” Addou said. He said the annual meetings of the multinational institutions was a chance to seek financing from investment funds and banks for RAM’s growth plan. “The market is there, the potential, the future, the world Cup and the tourism strategy are all there,” said Addou. <br/>
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Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said, in an interview with CNN, that while he “very much cares about sustainability,” there is not enough will in the airline industry to reach net zero by 2050. "I genuinely believe that will be very difficult to achieve," he told CNN’s Becky Anderson in Doha. The pair discussed the airline’s plans to try to get to net-zero, the challenges facing the aviation industry in 2023, and the post-World Cup 2023 landscape. Key quotes from Al Baker: On Qatar Airways’ commitment to sustainability: “I very much care about sustainability. Qatar Airways has today one of the youngest fleets in the world, and we keep on investing – we have nearly 150 aircraft on order that need to be delivered, and they are all absolutely fuel efficient. We are hugely involved in recyclable materials in the airline, we are constantly investing in improving fuel burn on the airplane – but there is only so much we can do. The industry should also get involved. The oil companies need to roll up their sleeves and provide us sustainable fuel in the volumes we want, at the price where the passenger will be able to afford, which is not happening.” On whether he believes reaching net-zero by 2050 is possible: “I genuinely believe that it will be very difficult to achieve the targets by 2050, because there is not that much will. 2050 is not too far away.” <br/>
The Albanese government should immediately review its decision to block Qatar Airways from launching extra flights to Australia, a Senate inquiry has recommended, as it called for a significantly expanded role and powers for the competition and consumer watchdog in the sector. The Senate select committee on bilateral air service agreements – set up to examine the rejection of Qatar Airways’ request to almost double its flights into Australia’s major airports – has also recommended its own extension to November so the former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce could front members upon his return to Australia, and so other Qantas representatives who provided “unsatisfactory” responses could be re-quizzed by senators. The report underscored just how politically charged the saga has become. While senators agreed on a range of recommendations aimed at stamping out anti-competitive behaviour by larger airlines, better considering consumers in government decisions, and reducing strategic cancellations at Sydney airport, Labor and Greens senators issued dissenting reports. The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, the opposition transport spokesperson and chair of the committee, accused the Albanese government of obstructing the inquiry from accessing evidence, of gagging department officials and acting to protect Qantas.<br/>