Airlines must aim for zero emissions of CO2, Giovanni Bisignani, director general and ceo of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Speaking at the Association's annual meeting in Vancouver, he said the industry must aim for this in the next 50 years.
He told delegates that aviation had a good record on the environment. Noise had been reduced by 75% in the last 40 years, soot had been eliminated and fuel efficiency improved by 70%.
New aircraft will make fleets 25% more fuel efficient by 2020.
He added: "But a growing carbon footprint is no longer politically acceptable - for any industry. Climate change will limit our future unless we change our approach from technical to strategic. "Air transport must aim to become an industry that does not pollute - zero emissions."
Mr Bisignani said the four main areas of challenge were air traffic management, technology enabling the industry to build zero emission aircraft within 50 years, a global approach on climate warming and for airlines to adopt green strategies.
At the annual meeting IATA also voted to put back by five months the deadline for airlines to use only e-tickets for processing through its Bank Settlement Plan (BSP).
The new cut off dates is May 31, 2008.
Tom Murphy, IATA's senior vp industry distribution and financial services, said only the industry would be only 92% compliant by year end, the original deadline.
He said the gap represented 18 million tickets per year and only two regions, the US and North Asia were expected to reach 100%.
* At the annual meeting TAP Portugal ceo, Fernando Pinto took over as chairman of the Association's Board of Governors. He said the environment, security and safety would top its agenda over the next 12 months.
Beijing and Shanghai boom destinations for Germany
China's major cities of Beijing and Shanghai are the two fastest growing destinations for German business travellers.
New research by the German travel managers' association, VDR and consultants BearingPoint has found that the two cities are among the top four destinations with London and Paris.
Ralph Rettig, vp of the VDR, said: "The boom in business trips to the Far East is no surprise to travel managers."
New York remains the number one business destination in the US while Moscow, Vienna, Zurich, Mumbai, Budapest and Dubai also figure prominently.
The full results of the VDR-BearingPoint research will be published on July 4.
* see BTE's recruitment site www.businesstraveljobs.com