AACO's 59th AGM Tackles Mounting Operational, Regulatory and Environmental Challenges Facing Aviation

Doha, November 03 (QNA) - The 59th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Arab Air Carriers' Organization (AACO), hosted by Qatar Airways, discussed the operational, regulatory and environmental challenges facing the aviation industry.

During its fourth session in Doha, the AGM endorsed commitment to competition and antitrust laws, approved its agenda and the minutes of the 58th Annual General Meeting, and decided to hold its next session, the 60th AGM, in Cairo, Egypt, in November 2027.

During Tuesday's sessions, the AGM heard the AACO Secretary General’s state of the industry report, which reviewed strong performance figures in 2025 and an anticipated downturn in 2026 amid regional pressures.

It also heard an address by the Director General of the Arab Civil Aviation Organization (ACAO) on issues of mutual interest to the organization and AACO, including coordinating Arab positions on international environmental legislation. This was followed by a presentation by Bloomberg on the future economic and aviation outlook, which highlighted the doubling of fuel prices, rising interest rates, and higher insurance costs on airlines' debts.

The AGM also addressed the increasingly pressing sustainability issue, amid a proliferation of carbon measurement systems, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mandates, European fines, the proposed expansion of the European Union Emissions Trading System (ETS), and delays in implementing the SESAR project to unify air traffic management.

This session takes on exceptional significance as it comes after the aviation industry weathered the COVID-19 test, the toughest in its history, and entered 2026 with strong momentum, only to confront a new wave of challenges driven not by demand, but by supply constraints, mounting costs, and regulatory pressures. (QNA)