Willie Walsh, the former IAG executive who is now director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has criticised attempts to limit short-haul flights in Europe.
Such moves, Walsh told the Airline Economics Growth Frontiers conference in Dublin, are "not the answer” to cutting the industry's emissions.
"The debate around the environmental performance of our industry needs to be based on data, based on facts", Walsh said, citing a study by Eurocontrol that suggested flights of less than 500 kilometers amounted to just 3.8% of emissions.
The debate around short-haul flights flared in late 2022 with the European Commission endorsing a French attempt to ban flights where destinations could be reached by train in 150 minutes or less.