Reforms to air traffic management, airport capacity and revising air passenger rights are key objectives for Europe this year, says Siim Kallas, commissioner of transport at the European Commission.
Q) What are your priorities for 2012?
A) "This year is a crucial one for negotiating the future framework for the European transport infrastructure. While opening up the European aviation market has been a success, the commission will continue its work to establish the Single European Sky (SES). Progress has already been achieved in setting up a comprehensive legal framework concerning performance, charging and establishment of FABs as well as the designation of a Performance Review Body and Network Manager. It is now time to deliver these and the next few years will be crucial as concrete results are expected at an operational level across Europe. Another priority is the full realisation of Functional Airspace Blocks (FABs), which will be implemented by December 4, 2012. Air traffic management is still organised in a fragmented way and FABs will help rationalise the system, the Northern FAB will play a key role for Estonia, for example. Another ever-present concern for the commission is passenger rights; in 2012, we will present a revision of the present air passenger rights legislation with the aim of maintaining high levels of legal protection for passengers and their luggage, while balancing this with a fair and proportionate economic burden for industry that may result from particular cases of force majeure. There have been warnings that projects such as SESAR may not be enough to prevent a ‘capacity crunch’ at Europe’s airports."
Q) Are you confident it will deliver sufficient efficiencies?
A) "I am confident that the deployment of the SESAR (the SES ATM Research programme) will support the necessary improvements of the ATM network from 2014 onwards to cope with capacity needs. As SES covers all segments of flight from departure to arrival (what we call the ‘gate to gate approach’), airports will benefit from SESAR technologies and procedures and contribute to their synchronised deployment. The current downturn in air traffic will help but time should not be wasted to plan and implement tomorrow’s ATM system in order to be ready when air traffic starts to grow once again."
Q) Countries such as China and the US oppose the inclusion of aviation in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS); do you think they would support it if it were part of a global scheme?
A) "Yes. The commission recognises that several countries have expressed concerns about the ETS and believes that finding a global solution collaboratively through ICAO offers the best way of avoiding a damaging confrontation between ICAO states. The EU is now working actively in this direction together with third party countries."
Q) Consolidation continues in the European aviation market, does this threaten competition?
A) "In the difficult economic environment we find ourselves in, the restructuring of the European aviation sector is to be expected; indeed consolidation in the aviation industry is a global trend. But we also need to remember that the process of ending the highly fragmented EU market only began 20 years ago. The notion of national carriers being kept afloat by their governments is now a thing of the past; consolidation is a logical consequence of the opening up of the internal market and increasing global competitive pressures on the industry, and the commission has the duty to assess mergers and acquisitions involving EU companies to prevent concentrations that would significantly impede effective competition in the EU. The vast majority of mergers do not pose competition problems and are cleared after a routine review."
Q) What benefits will the EC’s ‘Better Airports’ package bring to aviation in Europe?
A) "The Better Airports package aims to address the capacity and quality challenge facing Europe’s airports. With almost 800 million passengers using EU airports (a third of the world market), they are a vital part of our aviation system and economy. The package brings benefits at four levels: first, for the EU economy, the new slot-allocation rules will allow the system to handle 24 million more passengers a year and could generate net economic benefits of €5 billion and create up to 62,000 jobs between 2012-2025; second, airlines should be able to adjust their slot holdings at busy airports more easily and will have more choice of groundhandling companies at some large airports; third, airports will be able to make better use of their infrastructure to offer higher quality services for airlines and passengers; finally, it will mean fairer competition for groundhandlers."
Q) Aviation in developing economies in Asia, South America, the Middle East and Africa are expected to expand dramatically in the future, can Europe play a role in this growth?
A) "Absolutely! The European aviation market is still expected to grow but is already relatively mature compared with other regions. However, new growth markets are emerging in other parts of the world, in particular in developing economies and because aviation is by its very nature becoming increasingly open this will provide the European aviation industry, including airlines, manufacturers and service industries with new opportunities which they must – and do – pursue."
Q) You have said that bloc-to-bloc air agreements between the EU and ASEAN should be explored, would you like to see a similar Open Skies agreement to the one signed with the US?
A) "ASEAN is a very dynamic and interesting group of ten countries that are in the process of developing a single integrated aviation market with many similarities with what we have created within the EU over the past 20 years. We are therefore following this regional development with great interest and there will no doubt be lessons to learn for both of us. As the ASEAN single aviation market evolves and becomes increasingly integrated, it would be natural – and to our mutual benefit I believe – to explore much closer EU-ASEAN aviation cooperation, including the prospect of a comprehensive EU-ASEAN aviation agreement as we have with other key partners such as the US, Canada and Brazil. But there is no one-size-fits-all for this and any EU-ASEAN agreement would have to satisfy the interests of both sides."
Q) Is enough progress being made to reduce aviation’s carbon footprint and invest in green technologies?
A) "Aviation is quite exposed to external influences and fluctuations, but it is also a sector which expects continued growth. However, aviation is also included in the overall target to reduce transport emissions in Europe by 60% by 2050. This is why limiting carbon emissions and other factors such as noise and pollutants, is of huge importance. The track record of increasing fuel efficiency is quite impressive and the aviation sector is fully aware that its environmental performance attracts a lot of attention. The EU shares the risks of research and development and helps industry in the Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative to move towards the performance limits of currently known technologies. We expect this project will achieve reductions of up to 30% in CO2 emissions for new aircraft thanks to innovations in aircraft and engine design. In addition, we promote fuel efficient flying; implementing the SES and deploying the results of the SESAR programme will add up to a 10% reduction in CO2 per flight. In addition, a large part of the reduction will come from the better use of airspace with more direct routes, better organisation of landings and take-off and optimised taxiing. Our next target will be to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2020. Within this context, I also welcome the efforts of the aviation industry to develop and promote its own sustainable alternative fuels. Low carbon fuels will be an important option to complement and replace fossil fuels and reduce overall emissions as well as to counter the threat to the security of supply of fossil fuels and increasing costs which are a burden for airlines. The EU’s Transport White Paper suggests a long-term target of 40% by 2050, and this will require concrete first steps in the very short-term. Therefore, the ‘Biofuels Flight Path’ initiative has been launched in cooperation between industry and the commission, with the aim of delivering two million tonnes of advanced biofuels for European aviation by 2020."
This story appears in the latest issue of Routes News. A copy of the latest issue of the world air service development magazine is available to all delegates at Routes Europe.
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