Tag: Air Transport

The European Commission wants to make transport users pay for emissions, noise and other harm they cause as part of proposals laid down in a draft White Paper on Transport, seen by EurActiv.

European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas will this week present recommendations building on the lessons learned from a week of aviation chaos caused by the eruption of volcanic ash from an Icelandic volcano.

Flights across large parts of Europe were set to resume on Tuesday under a deal agreed by the European Union to gradually free up airspace closed by a cloud of ash hurled into the sky by an Icelandic volcano.

While body scanners have already been introduced in some EU airports to step up the fight against terrorism, both the European Commission and the European Parliament stress that their impact on health and privacy protection needs to be fully assessed before the Union can adopt a common position on the new technology.

"The outcome of the Copenhagen summit proved extremely disappointing as regards international aviation and shipping emissions," laments Transport & Environment in a January paper.

Major European airlines and representatives of business aviation and pilots have promised to help validate new technologies and processes for the next generation of EU air-traffic management systems, expected to be operational by 2020.

Cheaper airline tickets, shorter flight times, less pollution and no more air borders: these are the expected benefits of the 'Single European Sky II' package of legislation adopted by the European Parliament yesterday (25 March).

The European Commission has proposed to temporarily freeze its rules on airlines' slot rights in an attempt to help the sector through the economic slowdown. But the move was heavily criticised by low-cost airlines, which argue the measure is not meant to protect the industry but help "inefficient legacy airlines to hoard scarce resources".

The European Commission has approved a takeover of Alitalia by a consortium of Italian private investors, freeing them from having to repay some 300m euro of state aid awarded by the Italian government to the ailing air carrier. 

Berlusconi's controversial rescue plan for the troubled Italian airline, nicknamed Fenice, revealed deep divisions yesterday (3 September) between the political and technical sides of the European Commission over the plan's conformity with EU state aid rules.

With 27 separate airspaces, Europe's skies are getting increasingly crowded and polluted, leading the EU to push for the realisation of a "Single European Sky". But member states' reluctance to hand over sovereignty in this area could be slowing down the process.

European Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik yesterday launched a seven-year, €1.6 billion public-private partnership aimed at helping the aviation industry to develop environmentally friendly technology.

The European Parliament's Transport Committee has warned the Commission that its plan to tackle congestion at European airports simply by optimising existing capacity will be insufficient to address the large rise in demand for flights.

Air passengers should be spared some angst at EU airports after the Commission decided to relax security regulations that are causing thousands of litres of perfume and alcohol to be confiscated daily.

In a bid to step up the fight against terrorism, airlines flying to the EU could be obliged to share private data on their passengers, such as passport numbers and credit card details, with Europe’s secret services, Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini has announced.

The atrocities of 11 September 2001 in New York, the Madrid train bombing in 2004 and the London Underground attacks in July 2005 have indicated terrorists' willingness to target infrastructures such as transport, energy and communication. On 12 December 2006, the European Commission adopted a Communication to improve the protection of European Critical Infrastructure (ECI) from terrorism.

The EU and Russia have reached an agreement ending a 20-year row over charges that European airlines paid to fly over Siberia.

In 2001, the Commission presented a White Paper proposing 60 measures to overhaul the EU’s transport policy in order to make it more sustainable and avoid huge economic losses due to congestion, pollution and accidents. A 2006 mid-term update attempts to re-balance the policy towards economic objectives.

The French government agreed on 23 November the introduction of a new tax on airline tickets from next summer. This decision now requires parliamentary approval.

The current plans for the FP7 earmark 6 billion euro for transport-related research. R&D on a single European air traffic management infrastructure (SESAME) will improve safety of air travellers.  

High oil prices, new safety rules, environmental concerns, tax-for-aid, state aid restrictions, passenger rights - the pressure is piling up on European airlines with no apparent policy co-ordination.

A French and German proposal to introduce a voluntary tax on airline tickets to finance development aid has found support from the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Michael Chertoff, Chief of the US Department of Homeland Security wants the EU to provide information on passengers flying to the United States before planes take to the air.

Twelve EU member states were told to eliminate bilateral air agreements with the US ahead of a Commission visit to Washington aimed at re-launching stalled 'open skies' talks.