“We will have electric planes relatively soon”

elDiario.es brings together a large group of experts this Thursday to discuss sustainable mobility. Domain experts, industry professionals and thought leaders are spread across several tables to talk about the intersection between the right to decent transportation for citizens and respectful of the environment. Whether by plane, train or car. Also think about the urban fabric and the construction of cities of the future.

The event began with an interview by the director of elDiario.es, Ignacio Escolar, with the Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Óscar Puente. “What is reasonable is that leadership in the event of a disaster is assumed by whoever has the power,” the minister said during this conversation.

After the minister, the debate focused on air transport with the participation of David Benito Astudillo, Director General of Civil Aviation of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Isabel Maestre, member of the board of directors of the Official College of aeronautical engineers from Spain. (COIAE) and Deputy Director of Foresight and Innovation of SENASA, Amparo Brea, Director of Innovation, Sustainability and Customer Experience of Aena and Nacho Tovar, Director of Innovation and Digital Transformation in Iberia .

“We will have electric passenger planes quite soon,” predicts David Benito Astudillo, who indicated that these planes could have a range of up to 400 kilometers but that they would initially only have a capacity of 50 or 60 passengers. “These planes will not be the solution to mobility that we are expecting,” he clarified, emphasizing that it is precisely air transport that has the fewest decarbonization vectors.

Maestre said air transport accounts for 11% of global CO2 emissions, behind cars or trucks, and called the challenge of reducing these gases “spherical” because it affects different areas of the sector. One of the solutions of the future, because it currently represents only a tiny percentage of production, lies in sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).

“Objectively, we are not prepared. What will have to be done in the years to come is a very big step forward. SAF production covers 1% of global production demand,” said Tovar, who also explained Iberia’s innovations regarding this sustainable mobility. Among them, a narrow-body aircraft for transatlantic flights, the AX321XLR, which precisely this Thursday makes its first flight to Boston and which, according to it, reduces emissions by 40%.

“The challenge is the necessary compatibility that must exist between environmental sustainability and business growth. For all these innovation challenges we face, significant investments will be necessary. For these large investments, economic growth is necessary. And for this, a lot of investment is needed, effective public policies and firm collaboration between all sectors,” summarized Amparo Brea, from Aena.