Brussels, 22/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - The low cost airlines express their opinion on the transparency of their practices and on their level of security. They are currently disputing the temporary suspension of the ETS for non-EU flights. John Hanlon, Secretary General of the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA), replied to questions from EUROPE on behalf of ELFAA's ten airline members (including Ryanair, esayJet and Wizzair). (MD/transl.fl)
(AE) How do you view the latest developments in the emissions trading scheme (ETS) for aviation?
John Hanlon (JH): We are very unhappy with the proposed ETS derogation. We think it is illegal. If it is adopted, we will be launching a legal challenge to the derogation in a national court. We haven't yet identified in which state we are going to initiate proceedings - it could be the UK. We would seek to approach the European Court of Justice as well. We supported the ETS as we thought it was the best market based mechanism to support our effort to reduce our impact on the environment, and enable us to continue to grow - but grow sustainably. We only support it if it is environmentally effective. But 80% or more of EU aviation emissions are from long haul flights. It is essential they are included. The European Commission intends to exclude long distance flights for one year - but long distance flights are the biggest offenders.
(AE) The European Parliament regularly declares its intention to make online booking tariffs more transparent and to regulate the boarding of cabin baggage. What is your reaction to this?
(JH): On the latter, I know the Parliament has been very concerned about this but it has been under great pressure from the duty-free lobby. If the MEPs try to regulate this, it could be to the detriment of the consumer. If you carry these irregular shaped bags (e.g. duty free purchases) it is impossible to accommodate all the regular shaped cabin bags. That's why one of our airlines in particular said that to give everyone the maximum opportunity to carry the biggest bag, we would like to have them of regular dimensions so we can store them conveniently. There is resistance from the duty free shops - they want to maximise their profit. But in terms of transparency of pricing, we should take a closer look at them - there's no duty free within Europe! For the online pricing, we think there should be a clear setting out of all the extra services that can be bought - you should be able to define whether they are for you or not. I'm not sure why people don't think that is not clear. Possibly because some are included in other fares to other destinations, but that really hangs over from the past.
(AE) What answers do you have to the doubts raised about the security of low cost airlines? (Ryanair's emergency landings, stories of pilots being encouraged to take on the minimum of fuel)?
(JH): Aviation safety is a sine qua non for all operators. It is actually even more of an issue for a low cost carrier. If a low cost carrier is going to have an accident it would be much more mortal than for an established carrier and the people's acceptance of it. Low cost carriers are very aware of their vulnerability to any incident. They are more focused on security than anybody.