editorial/ cover story - Air World

AVIATION NEWS
NBAA Welcomes Passage of
Senate Bill Prohibiting
Compliance With EU-ETS
Washington, DC, September 22,
2012 – The National Business
Aviation Association (NBAA)
applauded final passage of Senate
legislation prohibiting operators
of U.S. aircraft from participating
in a European scheme to regulate
aviation emissions.
The Senate approved the bill,
S.1956, the "European Union
Emissions Trading Scheme
Prohibition Act," which directs
the transportation secretary to
prevent all U.S. aircraft operators
from taking part in the European
Union Emissions Trading
Scheme (EU-ETS). Similar
legislation was passed by the
U.S. House earlier this year, and
the two bills must now be
reconciled into a single measure
for a final vote from both
chambers.
NBAA President and CEO Ed
Bolen specifically pointed to the
leadership of Senators John
Thune (R-SD), Claire McCaskill
(D-MO) and others for
supporting the bill. "NBAA
thanks Senators Thune,
McCaskill and others on both
sides of the aisle who supported
this legislation," Bolen said.
Bolen has repeatedly pointed out
the industry’s concerns about the
scheme, and has supported both
the House and Senate versions of
the legislation opposing the plan.
In June, Bolen testified before the
Senate Committee on Commerce,
Science and Transportation,
calling the scheme "fatally
flawed," adding that, "as badly as
the airlines are treated, general
aviation is treated even worse"
under the EU-ETS.
Review Bolen’s testimony in its
entirety.
In other testimony, NBAA
Members have pointed out to
congress that the proposal is
unfair, intrusive, administratively
burdensome and fails any
reasonable cost-benefit test for
the environment.
"We appreciate the forceful
message this bill sends to the EU
against the imposition of a new
carbon tax on aircraft," Bolen
said.
Bolen reiterated NBAA's
position that international
standards governing civil
aviation should be enacted by the
International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO). "The
general aviation community
continues to support the
framework for addressing
greenhouse gas emissions
developed by the ICAO," Bolen
said.
"The business aviation
community has a continuous
record of improvement on
emissions reduction," Bolen
added. "We will continue our
decades-long effort to promote
policies that minimize the
industry’s carbon footprint."
(Seoul) – The International Air
Transport Association (IATA) has
called on the Republic of Korea
(Korea) to continue to build on
the success of the Korean
aviation industry and to further
strengthen its competitive
advantage.
“Korea has created a strong
framework for the success of its
air transport industry. Aviation
supports KRW 8.3 trillion of
economic activity in Korea—
equal to 0.8% of GDP — and
employs some 140,000 people. If
we add in the impact of aviationrelated
tourism, the numbers rise
to KRW 23.1 trillion—that’s
2.2% of GDP—and some
488,000 jobs or 2.2% of the
workforce,” said Tony Tyler,
IATA’s Director General and
CEO.
Today Korea is the world’s 15th
largest economy and is the
seventh country to join the 20-50
club— with average per capita
income exceeding $20,000 and
having a population of 50
million. “Aviation enables
business. These achievements
would not have happened without
connectivity to world markets,”
said Tyler.
“Efficient connectivity does not
just happen. It is the result of the
interactions of a complex value
chain of airlines, airports, air
navigation service providers,
agents, freight forwarders,
manufacturers and so on. And
their activities are deeply
impacted by government policy
initiatives. If everyone is focused
on creating a competitive
environment for the aviation
industry, the economy grows
stronger together. And that is
good news for everybody,” said
Tyler.
Maximizing Aviation’s
Contributions to Korea’s
Economy
IATA is the global association for
some 240 member airlines.
Together they comprise 84% of
world traffic. Both Asiana and
Korean Air are members of
IATA.
Tyler identified infrastructure and
global standards as areas for
Korea to focus.
Infrastructure: “Incheon airport is
consistently profitable and enjoys
a great reputation with respect to
the quality of the infrastructure
and service that it provides. The
continuous challenge is to make
Incheon even better,” said Tyler.
In 2007 the airport agreed to a
10% reduction in landing charges
from 2008 to 2010. Tyler
suggested that a similar reduction
would enhance Incheon’s
competitiveness even more.
“Whether it be decisions on
charges, construction or airport
privatization, it is critical that
Korea’s competitiveness be the
guiding factor. You have created
a great competitive advantage
with the excellent facilities at
Incheon which are competitively
priced. Don’t lose that
advantage,” said Tyler.
Global Standards: Tyler
highlighted the need for Korea’s
aviation industry to continue to
innovate based on global
standards. He recognized Korean
Air’s strong support for the
introduction of e-air waybills into
the Korean market as part of the
e-freight initiative. E-freight
improves efficiency in the air
freight sector by removing paper
documents.
Incheon is also playing a key role
in using global standard
technology to smooth passenger
processes with self-service
options for check-in, baggage
tagging, travel-document checks,
boarding, flight re-booking and
baggage tracing as part of IATA’s
Fast Travel program. “Incheon’s
use of biometrics is among the
most advanced in the world. To
keep that leading edge we look
forward to working with Incheon
and other key stakeholders in our
Checkpoint of the Future (CoF),”
said Tyler. CoF uses technology
and intelligence to remove the
hassle of security while making
the process even more effective.
AIR WORLD October 2012-7