Tag: airline industry

Airlines profited up to €1.36 billion last year by passing “imaginary” costs from the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) onto consumers, says a study by a Dutch environmental consultancy published today (22 January).

Boeing threw its weight behind Airbus in a dispute over European Union airline emissions on Thursday (22 March), announcing at the same time an agreement to develop and commercialise sustainable biofuels for use in airplanes.

Airlines are pressing the European Commission to revamp the 6-year-old rules on passenger rights that guarantee compensation for flight cancellations and delays that typically soar during the chaotic winter travel season.

During the European volcanic ash crisis, actions taken by national authorities led to unprecedented disruptions and severe economic effects for the airline industry. The time seems ripe to unite the EU's airspace, writes Alberto Alemanno, associate professor of EU law at HEC Paris and adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School, in a July commentary for the American Society of International Law (ASIL).

EU and US negotiators have agreed to engage in negotiations that would allow European investors take majority control of US airlines in return for similar access to the EU market.

The European Commission has banned Cambodian airline Siem Reap Airways International and every airline certified in Angola from operating in EU airspace, due to non-compliance with EU safety regulations amid significant safety concerns.

Transport ministers yesterday (9 October) gave the go-ahead to the launch of the development phase of the EU's next-generation air traffic management system. But airlines slammed the EU for giving higher priority to a "burdensome" emissions trading scheme than to realising the 'Single European Sky', which they say could significantly reduce aviation emissions.

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.

MEPs and national governments, represented by the EU's current Slovenian Presidency, reached a landmark deal yesterday (26 June) on the details of plans to include aviation in the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme as of 2012.

MEPs have declared a de facto war against national governments by maintaining their demands for strict emission reduction targets for Europe's rapidly growing aviation sector, despite ministers' insistence on a more industry-friendly approach.

Planned measures to limit the size of baggage that EU travellers may take on board aircraft have been withdrawn for fear of provoking similar chaos at European airports to that caused by the ban on liquids.

Common EU rules for preventing terrorist attacks at airports and planes will enter into force within two years after MEPs approved a compromise with member states, despite misgivings over who should finance the new security measures.

Airlines must reduce CO2 emissions by 10% when they join the EU's carbon cap-and-trade scheme in 2011, the European Parliament said in a vote, an outcome which disappointed both airlines and environmentalists.

MEPs are likely to toughen up a Commission proposal on including aviation in the EU's carbon cap-and-trade scheme, according to rapporteur Peter Liese. While environmentalists say the plans remain too weak to tackle the urgency of climate change, airlines claim stronger proposals could "completely kill the competitiveness of the industry". 

After more than four years of negotiations, the EU and the US have agreed on a deal that should throw open transatlantic air travel to more competition in a move which the Commission says could create 80,000 jobs and generate €12 billion in economic benefits. But European operators will be seeking further concessions from the US in the next few years after it refused to ease its stringent ownership and investment rules.

Successive debates in two key Parliament committees revealed strong divergences regarding Commission plans to cap greenhouse gas emissions from the EU's rapidly growing aviation sector.

MEPs overwhelmingly adopted a Resolution calling on the Commission to review – and possibly repeal – a recent security regulation forbidding passengers from carrying liquids on board aircraft. The vote took place just as news emerged of Germany and Denmark uncovering two separate terrorist plots. 

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.

The EU and the US have vowed to co-operate on reducing global aviation's contribution to climate change under a "green skies" partnership, but the deal is unlikely to hold off a dispute over a separate EU plan to make all airlines flying via Europe trade carbon permits.

Including aviation in the EU’s carbon emissions-trading system is the most cost-effective and flexible means of curbing the sector’s fast-growing emissions, German MEP Peter Liese (EPP-ED), Rapporteur on the proposal, told EurActiv as Parliament prepares to examine the draft Directive.

Planned measures to limit the size of baggage that EU travellers may take on board aircraft have been postponed over fears of provoking similar chaos at European airports as was caused by the ban on liquids.

Proposals aimed at including airlines into the EU’s carbon trading scheme have been revised to take account of trade concerns. Non-EU airlines will be exempt until 2012.

Short-distance flights that have spurred growth in the low-cost airline industry will see their taxes doubled in a move aimed at applying the 'polluter pays' principle to the aviation industry.

The Commission is preparing a proposal in December to cap CO2 emissions on all flights departing from or landing in the EU.