European Regions Airline Association

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of its formation, the Air Law Group is holding a debate on the question: "Who has benefitted more from the development of Air Law in the last 50 years: Passengers or Carriers?"

On 10-11 October Eurocontrol hosted a seminar in conjunction with the European Commission, ICAO, the European Cockpit Association, IFALPA and IATA to examine the scope of the problem of laser interference and to determine actions that could be taken in the short and medium term to reduce the number of incidents and their effect.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has released its initial opinion on the case brought by the US Air Transport Association which challenged the legality of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on aviation.  In its opinion it states the view that the scheme is legal and compatible with international law.

EASA has issued NPA 2011-17 ‘Volcanic Ash’ for comment. The NPA proposes a new obligation on manufacturers to identify any susceptibility of aircraft features to the effects of volcanic cloud contamination and to ensure that information necessary for safe operation is provided to operators. 

The second day of the General Assembly in Rome started with a Media Breakfast (as reported in the last Update) followed by press conferences which ran concurrently with a joint meeting of the ERA advisory Groups, and the Airport Directors and Airline Presidents meeting (which was closed to the media). Details of ERA members' media briefings are detailed below, at the end of this Report.