HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Under the motto "Aviation: innovative and climate-neutral," high-ranking politicians and aviation experts will meet in Hamburg on Monday (10 a.m.) for the 3rd National Aviation Conference. The event at Lufthansa Technik, not far from the airport, will focus on the transformation of aviation toward climate neutrality. The conference will be officially opened by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) plans to speak on the topic of "Climate protection technology and the transformation of aviation," and Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) on the topic of "Shaping the mobility of the future."

Hamburg's Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) is also expected at the conference. The metropolitan region is considered the world's third-largest civil aviation location after Toulouse in France(Airbus) and Seattle in the U.S. (Boeing). The Hamburg Aviation interest group counts around 300 companies and institutions with about 40,000 employees around the anchor companies Airbus with its plant in Finkenwerder, Lufthansa with its Hamburg-based maintenance subsidiary Lufthansa Technik and the airport itself.

According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, the 3rd National Aviation Conference follows on from meetings in Leipzig in 2019 and Berlin in 2021. Global mobility would be almost inconceivable without air transport. But without a perspective of climate neutrality, sustainable mobility will not be feasible. The conference will therefore focus on the tension between global mobility needs and the social requirements of a forward-looking climate protection policy.

Among those expected to attend from the business community are Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr, Airbus Technical Director Sabine Klauke, and the heads of MTU Aero Engines AG and Diehl Aviation, Lars Wagner and Jorg Schuler. The presidents of the aviation interest groups BDL and BDLI, Jost Lammers and Michael Schollhorn, have also announced their attendance - as have IG Metall executive Jürgen Kerner and Verdi vice president Christine Behle.

Shortly before the conference begins, environmental groups plan to demonstrate against further increases in air traffic. The environmental organizations BUND Hamburg, Robin Wood Hamburg and Initiatives against Air Traffic announced that they would be demonstrating in front of the Lufthansa Technik plant gate (9:00 a.m.) to emphasize their demands for a drastic reduction in air traffic as an effective and urgently needed measure for more climate protection./klm/DP/he