Tag: air safety

The European Commission today (25 November) warned that most EU countries are failing to improve and modernise regional air traffic management, contributing to delays that are blamed for higher travel costs and pollution.

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.

The eruption of a volcano in Iceland has provoked mass disruptions in Northern Europe as a cloud of ash brought air traffic in Northern Europe and Brussels to a standstill.

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) said yesterday (9 July) that a proposal by EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani to create a global blacklist for unsafe airlines was not the best way to reduce accidents. But the organisation agreed that enhanced international cooperation and a global strategy on aviation safety were needed.

EU air safety agency EASA has promised to incorporate more "communication moments" into the rulemaking process to make sure that stakeholders are not taken by surprise when new safety rules for airports and air traffic management (ATM) are proposed, EASA's director of rulemaking, Jules Kneepkens, told EurActiv in an interview.

European airlines last week voiced concern at the prospect of new limitations on flight time for crew and pilots, as the sector faces strong headwinds due to the economic recession.

Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani yesterday (9 September) told MEPs that he plans to tighten checks on Europe's airlines following the SpanAir crash in Madrid on 20 August, which killed over 150 people.

Member states must overcome their reluctance to hand over sovereignty on air-traffic control systems and speed up the implementation of a unified European system in order to improve industry's efficiency, enhance safety and slash CO2 emissions, according to a report by high-level experts.

MEPs are insisting that national governments take on at least part of the costs of stringent security measures imposed on European airports and airlines – a call which member states rejected last year.

EU rules limiting the amount of liquids that air passengers can carry on board commercial flights will enter into force on 6 November 2006 and could cause confusion and disruption at European airports.

The interim agreement, which will be valid for less than a year, ends a week of legal limbo for airlines but remains unsatisfactory to MEPs concerned about privacy protection.

Experts have agreed to introduce Europe-wide rules limiting the size of hand luggage and the amount of liquid that can be taken on flights. 

Following the exposure of a terrorist plot to bomb aircrafts flying between the UK and the US, EU authorities pledge to take steps to improve Union-wide aviation security.

The European Parliament has supported a Commission proposal to strengthen EU aviation security rules and accepted the idea of ‘sky marshals’ but only under strict conditions.

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.  

Some observers have raised doubts whether the publication of a blacklist with air carriers banned from the French and Belgian airspaces will be of much use.

A recent spate of four airline crashes demonstrates the importance of an EU-wide blacklist of banned airlines, according to the Commission. 

The Parliament has approved new rules to increase the safety of foreign aircraft using EU airports. The measures foresee EU-wide bans for unsafe foreign aircraft.

The Council and the Parliament are looking to reach a swift agreement in conciliation on the directive concerning the safety of foreign aircraft using EU airports.