Brussels, 27/04/2010 (Agence Europe) - Following the meeting of the College of Commissioners on Tuesday 27 April, during which he presented the preliminary findings of the ad hoc group set up to assess the effect on the air sector of the crisis caused by the cloud of volcanic ash, Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said he hoped to be granted a mandate to improve the intermodality of transport in Europe. He also announced a raft of measures, immediate and medium term, designed to help the air sector in Europe get back to normal after a week when nothing moved as a result of the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökulli volcano in Iceland (see EUROPE 10120). Early estimates by the Commission (and Eurocontrol) say that more than 100,000 flights were cancelled following the closure of European airspace, affecting some 10 million passengers and causing a 61% fall intra-Community cargo flights. Kallas gave a “very early” estimate of losses of around €1.5 to 2.5 billion by the air sector (with costs incurred by travellers included in the latter figure).
Among the temporary measures, planned to ease the pressure on airlines, Kallas proposed, for example, maintaining the slots which companies lost following the suspension of air traffic (in line with European Legislation, airlines lose the slots allocated to them if they use less than 80% of the time allotted them). Temporary derogations may also be applied from scheduling restrictions (such as those imposed on certain night flights), to speed up passenger and freight transport. To take account of liquidity problems facing airlines, the Commission proposes, too, to defer application of fees that airlines normally pay to air traffic controllers. This immediate action should, according to Kallas, ensure solutions coordinated at European level on state aid (the Commission takes the view that the exceptional circumstances of this crisis justify such compensation), application of passenger rights legislation and risk management in the sector. Kallas said that granting state aid must under no circumstances result in cases of illegal competition and must be based on criteria established at European level (see EUROPE 10121). The Commission is prepared to present a communication on clear and precise guidelines on this subject, he said. He added that state aid is not a miracle solution, warning that airlines could not expect massive pay-outs. He also suggested that the immediate measures should be taken to ensure pan-European application of passenger rights legislation. No airline should derive any economic advantage by avoiding its legal responsibilities, he stated. With regard to risk management, the Commission is planning setting up an expert group to tackle risk management planning for any future interruption of traffic due to volcanoes, Kallas announced. The group will draft a common risk-management methodology for air security and draft new framework legislation. This new approach will be set out for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in September 2010. In the medium term, the Commission plans to speed up implementation of the second Single Sky package, to tackle crisis planning for any further major interruption of transport in Europe and to put in place a body which would bring together at European level all the aviation sector players. In the memo presented to the College on Tuesday, the ad hoc group opts for the immediate creation of a crisis coordination unit, which would bring together Eurocontrol, the European Aviation Security Agency (EASA), member states and players in the sector. This unit would have the power to take the decision to launch drones (pilotless planes) to gather the data needed for assessment of the airspace. The Commission will also bring forward legislative proposals, again before summer, which will allow the use of drones as part of the Single Sky. With regard to crisis management, the Commission plans to really strengthen the concept of co-modality. There had to be consideration given, in particular, to the possibility for one mode of transport being used for another, Kallas said. He added, that if there was the political support of transport ministers (meeting in an extraordinary Council on 4 May), he would like the Commission to be granted the political mandate to work on these issues. (A.By./transl.rt)