A cooperation agreement between UNTWO and Iberia

A cooperation agreement between UNWTO and Iberia

Rome/Madrid [ENA] In a day dedicated by youth all over the world to combat climate change, it’s interesting to highlight that the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, and the CEO of Iberia, Luis Gallego, have signed a cooperation agreement in favour of sustainable tourism, at the headquarters of the Spanish airline.Iberia is Spain's number one airline and is the leader in routes between

Europe and Latin America. Together with its subsidiary Iberia Express and its franchisee Iberia Regional Air Nostrum, it offers around 600 flights a day to fifty countries in Europe, America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with a fleet of 145 aircraft. In 2017 Iberia received its 4th Skytrax star; in 2016 and 2017 it was the most punctual airline in the world and, in 2018, the third in Europe, according to FlightStats. Iberia has its hub at the Madrid airport, and is a member of the oneworld alliance, which offers more than 14,000 daily flights to nearly 1,000 airports in more than 150 countries. The two organizations shared a commitment to enhancing the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the tourism sector,

in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The agreement is a starting point, a frame within which the United Nations World Tourism Organization and Iberia will develop and accomplish specific projects to create a new leadership in the tourism sector springing from new resources and actions whose goal is achieving what contained in the 2030 Agenda, especially Goal 13, to combat climate change. The UNWTO Secretary-General declared: “We are very happy to sign this agreement with Iberia, with whom we have been working for more than 10 years; together we can carry out projects for the sustainability of tourism worldwide.”

Luis Gallego stated: “At Iberia we have been working for many years on initiatives making us increasingly sustainable. From today going forward, we are committed to cooperating with the main global organization in the field of tourism to jointly strengthen the sustainability of the tourism sector.” Environmental sustainability is a of greater importance for Iberia, and to that end it is working on different initiatives both on the ground and in the air to make flying cleaner. These initiatives include, among others, the renewal of the fleet with more efficient aircraft, electric vehicles at airports, reduction of the use of plastics and recycling of on-board waste, digitalization of processes and renewable energy in its facilities.