Friday June 18, 2021
“People are starved”
Government expects flight boom after Corona
Flying without harming the climate is what the federal government wants to do in the next 15 years. Because only a few would voluntarily forego flights, says the federal aerospace coordinator.
After the Corona crisis, the Federal Government believes that people will soon be flying on vacation as often as before. “People are a bit starved of travel,” said aerospace coordinator Thomas Jarzombek of the German press agency in the run-up to the National Aviation Conference in Schönefeld. The pre-crisis level will be reached again fairly quickly. The climate debate will not change that. “The issue of flight shame sometimes appears more than a regulars’ table,” said the CDU politician. Many believed climate protection was important. “But only a few are willing to forego the flight to Mallorca at the moment.”
At the conference at the capital airport BER, the federal government and industry representatives will discuss how air traffic can continue after the onset of the corona pandemic. The federal government is urging to reduce the climate damage caused by flying and to take over the technological leadership. “We are working hard to also tackle the issue of flight routes,” said Jarzombek. In some regions, the effects of winds and other forms of the atmosphere are sometimes significantly lower. “It’s an easy way to do something quickly.”
Better train connections are also necessary. “You can save 20 percent of domestic German flights relatively quickly by better connecting the airports to long-distance traffic,” said Jarzombek, particularly with a view to the second largest German airport near Munich. “We have to prioritize that much more strongly. It doesn’t have to be an ICE train station straight away, but at least one regional express that runs non-stop from the main station.”
The government does not want to rely on the railways alone because the planning and construction of new routes take many years. “From around 2035, electric flying must become the standard in Germany,” said Jarzombek. The airspace management must be adapted and more automated – because the e-machines are likely to have significantly fewer seats; more planes took off for the same number of passengers.
Germany has set itself the goal of being climate neutral by 2045. “Short-haul flying – that goes as far as Mallorca – will be CO2-free and climate-neutral well before 2045, I am convinced,” said the aviation coordinator. The framework for this must now be created, from hydrogen filling stations at airports to tax exemptions for electric aircraft and opportunities to fly with just one pilot at lower costs. “It’s more difficult with intercontinental traffic,” said Jarzombek. Hydrogen and synthetic fuels offer a lot of potential, as well as better flight routes and new engines. “But we still don’t know whether it can be done completely without compensation.”
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