Support for Single European Sky 'Crucial' says AEA Chief

When you drive from, say, Amsterdam to Lisbon by car, the only reason, technically, to stop is at a gas station. But when the same traveller chooses to fly for the same journey, he encounters a plethora of traffic control centres and different technologies governing communication between a great number of different national air traffic control agencies. When travelling internationally, we need the same efficiency in the air we have on the ground. This year we shall see which States have the vision to embrace a borderless sky above Europe, and which are reluctant to move away from the inefficiencies and restrictions imposed by the structures of the last century, he said. He referred to the proposed second-stage package of legislative measures which the European Commission was expected to table in the course of summer 2008. The Single Sky, said Mr Schulte-Strathaus, was an essential component of the Emissions Containment Policy developed by AEA. Airlines are significantly strengthening their commitment to environmental progress through technological development, and through more efficient operational procedures. Without a Single Sky, our ultra-efficient aircraft of the future will be delivering only part of their potential. More than that, European airlines were facing the prospect of incorporation into an Emissions Trading Scheme. AEA believes that a well-designed ETS can be a useful tool in achieving emissions targets, he said, but it makes no sense for airlines to use up significant portions of their emissions allowances zigzagging around Europes restricted military airspace, or repeatedly switching altitude to avoid areas of congestion, in the airborne equivalent of driving down the highway in third gear. Delays, unnecessary kerosene consumption and unnecessary costs for the airlines are the result of an inefficient air traffic management system, Mr Schulte-Strathaus concluded. It is not typical of Finland, it is a European phenomenon. The reason for raising this in Finland is that we in Brussels are counting on Finlands leadership to drive an urgently required reform of air traffic management.