Qatar- QACC calls for sustainability in business

Doha: Qatar Aircraft Catering Company (QACC) hosted its first-ever environmental awareness event at its headquarters, showcasing the company's latest sustainability initiatives.

The event included a range of activities, including workshops, discussions and an exhibition highlighting the company's commitment to sustainable business practices.

The Senior Vice-President of QACC, Michael Winner, said: 'We are very excited to have hosted our first-ever environmental awareness event here in Doha. This two-day event is part of QACC's commitment to sustainability. The programme covered all aspects of QACC's global operations, including flight and ground operations, as well as corporate activities.

'As part of the Qatar Airways Group, we firmly believe in allocating time and resources to continuously improve our environmental performance.

QACC has already introduced several initiatives as part of its sustainability programme, including recycling plastic materials that are off-loaded from the aircraft, with non-consumed and sealed items donated to charities. QACC carefully monitors passenger numbers on the flights it services and adjusts the number of meals and catering items loaded on-board accordingly. Additionally, by loading only the required linen quantity on-board, QACC saves approximately 5,400kg per day of excess weight and ultimately reduces consumption of fuel during the flight.

Other initiatives include the enhancement of plastic packaging and utilising sustainable products, such as corn flour and sugar cane byproducts. With more than 150,000 meals produced daily by QACC, shifting to food-grade materials that can be composted later is an essential and environmentally friendly practice.

QACC recently signed an agreement with Qatarat Agricultural Development Company (QADCO) to supply QACC with fresh produce to be served onboard flights from Doha and at Hamad International Airport (HIA) lounges. The two-year agreement demonstrates the airline's efforts in supporting the Qatar National 2030 vision.

Other internal environmental awareness campaigns held by Qatar Airways since the start of 2019 include observing Earth Hour, World Water Day, and No Paper Day, as well as hosting its own 'Switch-Off awareness campaign focused on energy conservation and fire safety. Qatar Airways operates a modern fleet of more than 250 aircraft via its hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA), to more than 160 destinations worldwide.

A multiple-award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World's Best Business Class' by the 2018 World Airline Awards, managed by international air transport rating organisation, Skytrax. It was also named ‘Best Business Class Seat', ‘Best Airline in the Middle East', and ‘World's Best First Class Airline Lounge'.

Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of more than 250 aircraft via its hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA) to more than 160 destinations worldwide. The airline will add a number of new destinations to its extensive route network in 2019, including Izmir, Turkey; Rabat, Morocco; Malta; Davao, Philippines; Lisbon, Portugal; Mogadishu, Somalia and Langkawi, Malaysia.