Barrot Succession Plan 'Recipe For Disaster'
News that European Commission transport commissioner Jacques Barrot has been earmarked to replace Franco Frattini as Europe's next justice commissioner has alarmed those charged with developing forthcoming European air transport legislation. Frattini looks likely to take a senior post in Silvio Berlusconi's incoming government and, if he does, EC president Jose Manuel Barroso says Barrot would replace him, leaving Italy to name a replacement for Barrot. UK MEP and member of the Parliamentary transport committee, Brian Simpson, says that "to place an Italian MEP with close links to Berlusconi in the position of the transport commissioner at a time when Alitalia, with its tortuous history of state subsidy, is once again in serious trouble, is a recipe for disaster".
All-Q400 Move On The Horizon
Horizon Air has firmed up plans to switch to a single fleet of Bombardier Q400 turboprops, saying that it will phase out the 20 CRJ700s in its fleet within two years. The Alaska Air feeder carrier says that once it completes the transition, it will fly 48 Q400s "or more, depending on how many of the 20 purchase options with Bombardier the airline chooses to exercise".
Europe's ETS Plan Takes Another Step
Aviation's inclusion in the European Union Emission Trading Scheme has moved through to the next legislative stage with a new report effectively triggering a further round of debate in the European Parliament. The draft recommendation will be discussed on 5 May and a committee vote held on 26/27 May, with a plenary session vote expected on 8 July. For the proposal to become law, Council - representing member states at governmental level - and Parliament must approve a final text. One Euro watcher tells Flight that the European Commission "is expected to soon make a statement by which it endorses the Council's position".
Clean Sky Council Set For ILA Gathering
The European Union's Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative's (JTI) governing council is expected to have its first meeting at the ILA air show in Berlin on 28 May, 11 months after the JTI was originally to have begun work. The €1.6 billion ($2.5 billion) public-private partnership research programme aims to slash future aircraft emissions and noise levels.
Emirates Publishes A380 Seating Plan
Emirates will equip the main deck of its Airbus A380s in an all-economy layout seating 399 passengers, while the upper deck will be for the exclusive use of premium-class passengers. The airline has published a seating diagram for its initial aircraft, which will be delivered in a 489-seat, three-class layout, beginning in July. More details at: flightglobal.com/emiratesa380seating
MIG Attack "Will Spur UAV Protection"
The shooting down of a Georgian army Hermes-450 unmanned aerial vehicle on 20 April by a Russian MIG-29 over the Abkhazia region will trigger an effort to make UAVs more survivable, according to an Israeli expert. Tal Inbar, a senior researcher at the Fisher air and space studies institute in Tel Aviv, added: "There will always be a tradeoff between the level of protection and the fact that we deal with an unmanned platform." Israel's Elbit systems has supplied the Georgian army with a number of Hermes-450 systems.
Source: Flight International
