The head of one of the world’s leading airlines has called for a meeting of airlines to discuss "new protocols" in areas of regional conflicts, following the shooting down of MH17.
Emirates president Tim Clark wants to see an international meeting of carriers to agree a unified response to the attack on the Malaysian Airlines’ jet and said national aviation regulators will become more involved in setting guidelines for travel in potentially dangerous airspace.
"The international airline community needs to respond as an entity and that it won’t tolerate being targeted in regional conflicts that have nothing to do with airlines," Clark said.
Clark expects the International Air Transport Association to head an international conference to discuss changes and take a more active role alongside individual regulators, which "have perhaps left airlines to their own devices in the past."
"IATA can’t close airspace but they can issue advisories and they may become a little more active, and national aviation agencies may start getting involved a little more than they have," added Clark.
Clark also dismissed talk of installing commercial jets with anti-missile devices.
"Some people say planes should be armed with counter devices but if we can’t operate aircraft in a free and unencumbered manner without the threat of being taken down, then we shouldn’t be operating at all."
