Brussels, 19/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - After his meeting with ACI-Europe (Airports Council International- Europe) on Wednesday 19 January, Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas reiterated the need to lay down minimum obligations for the quality of services provided by airports in Europe. The measure targets two objectives. Firstly, the European Commission wishes to prevent the repetition of situations which took place last year due to multiple disturbances to traffic in Europe. Secondly, it hopes to ensure better quality of European air services in this sector which is increasingly open to competition. The Commission also stresses the need for emergency plans to be prepared in the event of adverse weather conditions, and for the responsibility for providing information to passengers in difficulties to be laid down.
“We can facilitate things at European level by obliging the airports to set in place minimum service levels and to respect quality criteria in the passengers' interests”, the Commission told the press. There is an agreement to meet all players in the sector to see “how we can create the standards for quality service”, he added. The first meeting is set to take place in March, to coincide with the meeting of the European civil aviation platform. The proposals will be discussed in detail in the autumn, in September or October, the Commission added. However, it will be the job of the sector to prepare expert information on the possibility of cooperation. According to the commissioner, reinforcing information flows on delays and re-routings and boosting the “technical snow-clearing capacity” would be the most-needed measures (creating emergency plans in the event of heavy snowfall would, however, be the responsibility of the industry). The Commission is also of the opinion that cooperation should be ensured between all those involved and the appropriate functioning of the airport “hubs” should also be guaranteed. “These measures should be implemented by experts, not by bureaucrats”, Kallas stressed. The role of the Commission will be to reinforce the regulatory framework, a procedure which will start with the adoption of the airport package, announced for July. Around 35,000 flights were cancelled due to the extreme weather conditions in December, more than the total number for the whole of 2009, said Kallas, who feels this chaos is “unacceptable”. Some 7 million passengers were affected. The cloud of volcanic ash was difficult to predict, but “we know that winter comes every year and we should be ready for it”, he stressed. (A.By./transl.fl)