Making change happen

Welcome to the May/June issue of Regional International. I would like to start by thanking all our members who attended our Regional Airline Conference in Nice. ERA’s first major event of the year was a resounding success, with 275 delegates (a record number) including 35 airline members. We received positive feedback from delegates who completed the after-event survey, who found the event to be a valuable ERA gathering for our members and industry. It was a historic event for ERA and our members as the conference featured for the first time an all-female cast of speakers and presenters. I would personally like to thank the inspiring women who took part in the three panels focussed on wider long-term sustainability and to all our invaluable sponsors. To read our follow up report on the conference please visit page 9 [1] of this issue of the magazine.

Environmental reform

In this environmental issue, it seems relevant to mention the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) reform, a key environmental regulatory subject that forms part of Fit for 55 (Ff55) and that has recently progressed.

On 18 April, the European Parliament (EP) plenary approved the deal reached with EU Member States on the reform of the EU ETS for aviation and maritime. The agreement highlights include aligning the aviation sector with EU and global climate goals; phasing out free allocations for the aviation sector by 2026; introduction of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) allowances; and a new mechanism for addressing non-CO2 emissions.

In addition, last month the European Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on the ReFuelEU proposal to decarbonise the aviation sector. The agreement aims to increase both demand for and supply of SAF, while ensuring a level playing field across the EU air transport market.

It is a major proposal which aims to put air transport on the trajectory of the EU’s climate targets for 2030 and 2050, and should provide a solution to the current situation which is hindering SAF development: low supply and prices that are still much higher than fossil fuels.

However, the provisional political agreement is now subject to formal approval by the two co-legislators and sadly, the current disagreements between France and Germany over nuclear energy’s role within the Renewable Energy Directive is postponing the entire process. The Swedish Presidency says that talks are ongoing, and the Parliament is now expecting feedback from COREPER in order to schedule a vote in the TRAN Committee.

Both pieces of legislation form a vital part of the necessary regulatory reform needed to ensure our industry reaches its climate targets by 2050. By contrast, the proposal on the Energy Taxation Directive risks introducing a kerosene tax that would create duplication of costs already taxed through the EU ETS and other current taxes on jet fuels, as well as creating a disproportionate burden on airlines flying within Europe, so we continue to oppose this.

ERA Workplan 2023

ERA has recently developed a working plan for 2023, outlining our main objectives, work priorities and main policy asks for the coming months. The programme is structured around four topics, reflecting ERA’s mission: boosting regional connectivity; ensuring the competitiveness of European regional aviation; campaigning for improvements in air safety, operational efficiency and ATM modernisation; and championing environmental and social responsibilities. Details of the workplan can be found here on our website. Any feedback from members is always welcome, as our work needs to constantly be adapted to your business needs.

European Year of Skills

This year has been nominated as the European Year of Skills. It is incredibly relevant and timely given that skills shortage is a matter of great concern for our members and our industry as a whole.

The European Year of the Skills will provide a unique opportunity to push for a skills revolution in Europe, to normalise the upskilling and reskilling of all working age. The European Commission (EC) celebrated the start of the year with a European Year of Skills Festival [2] on 9 May linking up other events and speakers across Europe to showcase skills-related efforts and highlight the value of skills, providing opportunities to engage in discussions, to learn and to promote work in the field of skills development.

ERA members are encouraged to register any events on skills development on the EC’s interactive events map here and on the European Year of Skills website here. A useful toolkit has also been created to help prepare communication activities, events and media relations. All communications via social media are encouraged to use the hashtag #EuropeanYearofSkills and ERA will promote, where possible, all member posts via its own media channels.

I encourage all our members to take advantage of this initiative to promote our industry as a future career path and to expand recruitment opportunities. Skills shortages for aviation is a real issue that cannot be ignored so I hope The European Year of Skills will aid all those businesses looking to increase and retain their workforce. We look forward to sharing more on this in the next issue of Regional International, our recruitment and training special.