Tag: trans-Atlantic aviation

Officials have condemned a US move to bypass the EU by contacting individual member states in a bid to introduce tougher restrictions on transatlantic air travel.

While the signing of the Open Skies agreement between the EU and the USA has been hailed as a triumph for the consumer, with the prospect of more intensive competition and lower fares in the transatlantic market, the actual impact of the deal may be severely restricted because of limited airport capacity and slot shortages in the EU, according to a study by the independent economics consultancy Oxera.

The US plane-maker has told EurActiv of its plans to fly aircrafts on a 50% biofuels blend in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint. However, it says that it does not expect much from the inclusion of aviation in the EU's CO2-trading scheme.

Airlines are caught up in a legal vacuum after EU and US negotiators failed to reach an agreement on the transfer of passengers’ personal data before 1 October 2006.

Hundreds of thousands of passengers could be stuck in US and EU airports if a legal dispute regarding the transfer of personal data is not resolved, according to the International Air Traffic Association. 

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) wants to "kill some persistent myths" on the issue. Their arguments are rebutted by environmentalists who claim that the figures are biased.

The world's largest passenger plane ever, the double-decker Airbus A380 is "a success of the European industrial policy”, according to French President Jacques Chirac.

The Commission has launched legal action to force EU countries with individual bilateral aviation pacts with the US to tear them up. The move raises the stakes in the EU-US talks on an 'open skies' deal.

EU transport ministers have rejected a US offer for a landmark aviation agreement and want further negotiations on the right for EU carriers to fly internal US routes.

Air traffic talks between the European Commission and the United States remain pinned down on the issue of access to the US domestic routes for European carriers.

The Commission has authorised the Air France to take over Dutch airline company KLM. The merger creates the world's number one airline group by revenue.

EU airline passengers will benefit from new rights from 2005 where they are denied boarding, have to face long delays or cancelled flights. Airline associations argue that prices will go up and that the law is punitive.

The European Parliament is to hold a debate on air safety on 12 January in the wake of the Flash Airlines plane crash off Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.

MEPs backed the conciliation agreement on compensation and assistance to air passengers in cases of overbooking or delays.

The Parliament and the Council reached an agreement in conciliation on 9 December that paves the way for a single system of air traffic control in Europe, known as the Single European Sky.

Talks begin in Washington on 1 October between the EU and the US on a comprehensive transatlantic Open Sky aviation agreement.

On 2 September , MEPs agreed to grant power to the Commission for the negotiation of air services agreements between Member States and third countries.

The EU and US will start negotiations of an "open skies" agreement on trans-Atlantic air travel in September.

On 5 June, the Transport Council gave a mandate to the Commission to negotiate an "open skies" agreement between the EU and the US.

Earlier than expected, the Parliament plenary voted on 11 March 2003 on Brian Simpson's (PES-UK) own-initiative report on external relations in transport.

On 18 February, the Parliament's Transport Committee adopted an own initiative report on the EU's external relations in the field of transport. It calls on the Member States to strive for full EU membership in international transport organisations, and to grant the Commission a broad mandate to negotiate an EU-US common aviation area.

On 21 January, the Greek Transport Minister, Christos Verelis, presented the Presidency's key priorities in the area of transport to the Parliament's Transport Committee. The MEPs seized the opportunity to harshly criticise the Council for its apparent "inability to act".

On 12 November, the Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE) presented its strategic plan for European research and development in the aeronautics sector. It aims to drastically reduce aircraft pollution, delays and accidents by 2020.