ENVIRONMENT VOTE ADDS €6M A YEAR TO AVERAGE REGIONAL AIRLINE, SAYS ERA

10/10/2008

The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) reacted strongly to this week’s vote of the European Parliament’s Environment Committee to impose 100% auctioning of carbon permits for aviation by 2020, saying this will add a further €6 million a year for a typical regional carrier.

Speaking to the media at the Association’s annual General Assembly in Manchester on Thursday, Mike Ambrose, director general said: “Air transport’s problems are now vastly overshadowed by the larger economic crisis”, and he criticised the Environment Committee (ENVI) vote for imposing additional burdens on an industry already crippled with soaring costs and reduced consumer confidence.

“The fact that more than 1100 amendments to the mother directive were proposed without any form of impact assessment when so much is at risk – company survival, jobs, international access for Europe’s regions – is not just grossly unacceptable, it is thoroughly irresponsible.

“States, regulators and politicians need to recognise that we are not far off from a situation in which investment in air transport development will cease because the cost of uncontrolled additional regulations will have changed the balance from ‘prudent investment’ to ‘lottery’.

“Our challenge now is to make governments accept that aviation is an essential tool for helping to rebuild European economies.”

ERA members agreed a Resolution at today’s Annual General Meeting in Manchester calling on the European Commission, MEPs and European Council of Ministers to ensure that changes to EU Regulation 2003/87/EC (the “mother directive”) do not further amend the scheme for air transport already agreed by the European Parliament. The full Resolution is appended to this press release.


ENDS

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2008 - RESOLUTION 1
DEVELOPING A EUROPEAN EMISSIONS TRADING REGIME FOR AIR TRANSPORT

Whereas air transport plays a vital economic and social role within Europe;

Whereas only air transport can efficiently and effectively serve the vital transport needs of Europe’s regions for connections to major centres, other European regions and third countries;

Whereas almost all motorised transport creates emissions;

Whereas aviation has reduced its emissions by 70% per seat kilometre since 1970;

Whereas global aviation contributes less than 2% of global man-made CO2 emissions and is forecast to contribute 3% of global man-made CO2 by 2050;

Whereas the European Parliament and the European Union Council of Ministers have agreed legislation that will incorporate air transport in the European emissions trading scheme from 2012;

Whereas the agreed legislation includes a requirement for a report of its impact to be completed by 2015;

Whereas proposals by the European Commission to amend Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community (the “mother” Directive) might alter the impact of the new air transport legislation before the impact report has been completed;

Whereas further amendments to the “mother” Directive proposed by the Environment Committee of the European Parliament would significantly amend the opinion of the European Parliament when it very recently agreed legislation for air transport;

Whereas such further amendments would introduce, for aviation, changes to a scheme that is not yet implemented and for which neither the industry nor members of the Parliament have any experience of its operation in aviation;

Whereas the massive increase in fuel prices experienced during 2008, together with the major disruption to the economy of all European states has already resulted in failures of European airlines and will bring about further significant restructuring of European air transport and associated job losses that will be more far-reaching and enduring than the industry downtown following ‘911’;

The members of the European Regions Airline Association call on the European Commission, Members of the European Parliament and the European Union Council of Ministers

• to ensure that changes to EU Regulation 2003/87/EC (the “mother” Directive) which are currently being negotiated do not further amend the scheme for air transport already agreed by the European Parliament.