Six European industry associations have teamed up to form a common platform on emissions, with the focus on how to achieve sustainable development.
The six bodies, which include the Association of European Airlines (AEA), the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) and leisure airline body the International Air Carrier Association (IACA), have come up with four elements for its emissions containment policy.
First, the partners reiterate that targets agreed at ICAO level should be the benchmark when setting regulations on emissions. These include a halving of CO2 production and aircraft noise (per unit of production) by 2020 and an 80% reduction in other emissions. “Manufacturers of aircraft and engines have, for decades, been able to continually develop more efficient technologies and clean manufacturing processes,” the partners note.
Second, the associations say that improvements from the Single European Sky programme to reform Europe’s air traffic management could deliver a reduction of CO2 of 12% (per unit of production), adding that further improvements could be realised by a reduction in airport congestion.
Third, the trade bodies say, “just as the way cars are driven and maintained can significantly affect their efficiency, so with aircraft”. They argue that operators recognise the importance of best practice, and regulators should do all they can to promote and encourage this. Lastly, the partners say that they are looking into market-based options, in particular emissions trading.
AEA secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus says: “When linking aviation with climate change there exists a misconception that a given increase in traffic will produce an identical increase in carbon dioxide emissions. This is simply not the case.” He adds: “Aviation has been able to decouple emissions growth from traffic growth. Fuel consumption is expected to increase only by 3% in the next years, whereas traffic growth will grow by 4%.” He argues that the way to deal with emissions is not to stifle economic growth, and says the trade bodies are proactively seeking ways of minimising the environmental impact while not artificially and negatively making an impact on growth. “Ultimately, we want to develop a template which can be adopted globally, because environmental problems are global,” he says.
The other groups in the partnership are the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe, the European Business Aircraft Association and the European Express Association.
Meanwhile, the European Low Fare Airlines Association argues that the operational nature of low-cost carriers (such as higher seat density, use of uncongested remote airports and point-to-point services), combined with the fact that they tend to operate the most modern types of aircraft, makes them the most environmentally responsible segment of the air transport industry.
COLIN BAKER LONDON
Source: Airline Business
