On Thursday 18 April, the association of EU airlines, Airlines for Europe (A4E), and the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (ERC) reacted to Enrico Letta's report on competitiveness within the Single Market, published the previous day (see EUROPE 13393/3). They are calling for its conclusions to be taken into account by European leaders.
“The airlines have a list of problems to solve, but we agree with the report that current air traffic management in the EU is a major obstacle to the rationalisation of air transport, leading to more delays, higher costs and more emissions”, said A4E in its press release.
“This report is useless if the Member States remain inactive and fail to implement it. It should be the starting point for action and quickly lead to concrete measures that benefit airlines, passengers and the environment”, said Ourania Georgoutsakou, A4E's Managing Director.
For its part, the ERC noted that Mr Letta is calling on the EU to build high-speed rail links between all EU capitals in order to resolve a “glaring paradox” in the EU's infrastructure. The ERC has high ambitions for sustainable transport: high-speed links between all EU capitals and major cities, high-quality regional services, more night trains and sustainable tourism options, and fully digital freight operations. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)