Air transport within Europe provides economic value and meets social needs for the communities that it serves. The European Union's approach to regulation of the air transport industry repeatedly fails to take these benefits fully into account. In order to succeed in meeting the EU's overall economic and social goals of more and better jobs for Europe's citizens, the EU's legislators must increase their partnership with, and reduce their persecution of, the intra-European air transport industry.
Recognising that:
- Nine in ten EU citizens live outside the capital cities
- Good transport links are necessary to support investment in the EU's regions
- All motorised public and private transport causes some environmental damage
- Any government subsidy given to any public transport operator allows customers to be charged artificially low fares, thus creating additional demand and causing increased environmental damage
- Air transport is the only mode of public transport for which users currently pay virtually all infrastructure costs
ERA observes that EU transport policy should:
Recognise the value of Air Transport
- Air transport links between major centres and EU regions facilitate 90% of Europe's citizens to live outside capital cities, thus reducing population drift to Europe's major centres
- Air transport brings inward investment to Europe's regions thus producing significant economic and social benefits to Europe's citizens living in the regions
- Air transport increases social cohesion throughout the EU and between the EU and other European states
- Air transport is essential for the movement of mail and urgent freight, taking a vital role in the delivery of just-in-time goods and perishables including vegetables and human organs
- Air transport generates employment at and near airports: for every million passengers moving through an airport, approximately 3000 jobs are created, half of which are at or near airports
Ensure adequate investment in infrastructure
- EU expenditure on Trans European Transport Networks (TENs) has virtually ignored air transport, focusing instead on long-distance rail and road corridors, but taking little account of the needs of regional communities. However, the Single European Sky project, designed to increase capacity for air traffic, is attracting EU funds. Additional well-targeted investment in air transport would produce a valuable return for the EU through reduced congestion, increased safety, and reduced environmental damage.
Mitigate environmental damage
- The users of each mode of transport should pay the full cost of environmental damage without distortion by government subsidy
- Regulators and transport industries should be encouraged to work together to create and achieve challenging non-legislative environmental targets
Ensure fair competition
- All modes of public transport, and their users, should pay equivalent taxes
- Subsidies for all modes of public transport should be eliminated, except on commuter routes or where transport operators are unable to fulfil public service requirements and return an adequate profit
- All businesses (independent of ownership) involved in public transport should be subject to equivalent rules in areas such as safety and passenger rights
Consider safety and security to be paramount
- Safety is an airline responsibility, security is a state responsibility
- Safety regulators must ensure that the maximum benefit is gained from each Euro invested in safety and proposals must therefore be subject to impact analysis
- The EU should consider establishing a European Transport Safety Board to facilitate easier and faster transfer of safety knowledge between transport modes