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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1999.PDF
Regional airlines DELAYED REACTION Regional airlines in Europe fear legislation from Brussels discriminates not only against air transport, but specifically small carriers JUSTIN WASTNAGE / DUBLIN, FAIROAKS AND VALENCIA roposed passenger compensation I regulations could leave small regional communities in Europe being left with no air link. This is the view of Carlos Bertomeu, chief executive of Valencia-based Air Nostrum, a partner of Spanish flag carrier Iberia. He and other regional airline heads meet this week in Dublin for the European Regions Airlines Association (ERA) annual general meeting, and the impact of compensation measures and other air transport legislation will fea ture heavily on delegates' agendas. Compensation for delays is by far the hottest issue for regional airlines, not least since feeder airlines will be liable for paying out refunds for hold-ups to the entire long- haul journey. The ERA is also working on six other regulatory issues facing its members: reform to the allocation process for airport slots; insurance minima; potential disabled passenger access laws; potential anti-bank ruptcy consumer protection legislation; European Single Sky implementation and infrastructure use charge reviews. The European Commission (EC), which drafts much of the new legislation, has not accounted for regional airlines' circum- CityJet stances, says the association. Fairoaks, UK- requires based ERA welcomes much of the new legis- easy access lation, but says so much fine-tuning is to slots at needed that it is spending too much time Paris lobbying European institutions. Charles de Andrew Clarke, director of air transport Gaulle policy at the ERA, says several recent bills airport for originating from Brussels have suffered from its Air a lack of rigour, notably in the pre-proposal France stage when full impact assessment studies feeders are not being implemented. "We have con cerns about the EC's ability to draft good legislation," says Clarke. Geoffrey O'Byrne White, chief executive of Irish regional CityJet says: "Again and again legislation arrives from the EC and it's badly drafted and has to go back for amendments." Boarding denied Passenger compensation and assistance reg ulation is a good illustration, Clarke says. The bill started life as a way to prevent air lines from deliberately over-booking flights and then denying boarding to surplus pas sengers. According to EC data, in 1999 an estimated 250,000 passengers suffered this treatment from the main European Union scheduled carriers, or 1.1 per thousand. Originally, the regulations were far from subtle: fines of €750 ($827) per passenger on any cancelled flight under 3,500km (l,900nm) were proposed "to deter opera tors from denying boarding to all passen gers, whatever class they travel". Despite those being "bumped off" long-haul flights being awarded €1,500, the EC says opera tors would pay the fixed rate infrequently, so long as they did not overbook exaggerat edly and were effective in finding volun teers to be offloaded. However, early in the round of amend ments, compensation for delays as well as cancellation was added. It is this amend ment that has caused most alarm for the ERA, and the association mobilised its members to start a lobbying campaign. "Regional governments understand that it translates to fewer seats at higher prices on regional air services and they try to change the proposal," says Bertomeu. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 16-22 SEPTEMBER 2003 37
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