By Jean Christou
EUROPEAN airline chiefs yesterday called on their governments to press Russia to reduce charges for overflying Siberia.
The decision, and several others, were taken at a meeting of the Association of European Airlines (AEA) in Nicosia.
The 27-member association also called for a cut in airport charges throughout Europe, further regulation of competition, medical research into pilots’ time limits, and for signatories to the Eurocontrol convention to fulfil their obligations.
British Airways (BA) Chief Executive Bob Ayling, who chaired the one-day meeting hosted by Cyprus Airways, said aviation is an important industry for travel, trade and communication.
“And a safe efficient and affordable transport industry is important,” he said.
On Russia, Ayling said that its government was charging European airlines a total of $225 million annually.
“Unfortunately these funds are not invested in the infrastructure needed for safe air navigation over Siberia and Russia,” he said.
“We want a proper policy initiated by the EU to ensure that charges are moderated and funds used for investment in infrastructure.”
A dialogue is already under way with the Russian authorities and other European countries.
“We as airlines cannot do anything – that’s why we are putting pressure on the political side,” said Lufthansa chairman Jurgen Weber.
During the meeting the AEA members also studied a report from Cranfield University in the UK on the subject of airport charges in Europe.
“Some are quite efficient and some are not, and compared to airports in the US, European airlines face very heavy charges,” Ayling said.
He said this is one of the reasons why air fares in Europe are so high.
“We have agreed to use the Cranfield report to press for airports in Europe to be more efficient so our charges can go down,” he added.
International passenger traffic on the main European airlines last month was 8.8 per cent higher than in October last year. The final figure for the year is expected to be 10 per cent.
The BA chief said the report was “very complimentary” about the charges at Larnaca Airport.
Cyprus Airways (CA) became the 24th member of the AEA in 1992, chairman Takis Kyriakides said, stressing the importance of the meeting for Cyprus.
Thirteen AEA members serve the island, with scheduled flights to 17 destinations.
Turkish Airlines was invited by the AEA but did not attend the meeting, CA spokesman Tassos Angelis said, despite the fact that the AEA is a non- political organisation.
