Brussels, 08/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has criticised European transport policy which currently does not reflect the sector's contribution to the economy. “At present, the general direction is on 'restricting and taxing' aviation. Instead of 'enabling' policies, they seem focused on 'disabling' - an unintended consequence that imposes a big cost on European airlines' competitiveness”, said IATA's Director General Tony Tyler. In the association's sights are, unsurprisingly, the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) (see EUROPE 10548), the airports package which brings in changes to airport slot management, the Single European Sky, and biofuels.
In an effort to improve airport capacity, the Commission proposed a review of the current system for allocating airport slots to airlines. Tyler argues the focus should shift to building the airport capacity needed to cope with the growth in the sector. He also laments the delays in putting in place the Single European Sky (SES): only one out of the nine functional airspace blocks is expected to meet the year-end target deadline and only five out of 27 states are on track to meet agreed targets on reducing delays and improving cost efficiency. “This is a make-or-break year for SES. Europe cannot afford to fail. If states cannot deliver results, then it is time for the Commission to drive a top-down approach”, Tyler said. He went on to note that sustainable biofuels were a key component of the aviation industry's commitments to cap CO2 emissions. “To move from demonstration flights to being a major component of the industry's consumption, we need the price to drop and the supply to increase”, he argued. He called for policy incentives to attract investment and remove the risks in the scaling up of commercial aviation biofuels projects. (MD/transl.rt)