Archive

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced a new Euro 149.2 million financing scheme under its Interreg programme, which can help local and regional authorities deal with problems in border areas. In this case, the Commission has identified the North Sea as a frontier zone, with money being made available until 2006 for transnational co-operation between coastal areas in Britain, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EU Council of Ministers has, as expected, granted political approval to a hastily drawn-up proposed regulation on boosting civil aviation security, based on rules written in Document 30 of the European Civil Aviation Conference, Europe’s aviation policy development body.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission’s plan to establish the satellite-based global positioning system Galileo has been dealt a heavy blow by the EU Council of Ministers (transport), which has blocked finance for the crucial development stage of the programme. The Euro 3.6 billion, (Pounds 2.2 billion), Galileo scheme is designed to allow transport operators such as air traffic control services pinpoint navigational positions and reduce dependence on the American GPS system.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EU transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio has launched an aggressive rebuttal of claims by French trade union’s that the European Commission’s single sky initiative is an effective privatisation of air traffic management that will compromise safety standards.

The conservative Spanish commissioner said: “Let there be no misunderstanding: the purpose of the Single Sky is not to boost competition or privatise air traffic control.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
A SIGNIFICANT extension of airport security measures across the 43 countries of the Council of Europe, including for the first time three republics of the former Soviet Union, has now become a real possibility.

The Council’s economic committee has agreed to recommend to its member governments a range of sweeping airport reforms based on the AVSEC package drawn up by the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC).…

BY KATE REW AND KEITH NUTHALL
DELAYS sparked by increased security following the September 11 attacks have been a boon for airport bars, says HMS Host, a US company managing food, drink and retail services at 65 domestic airports, which has said that its bar sales for 2001 will equal those in 2000, despite a drop of 28 per cent in passengers in September and October.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
THE JAPAN Association of Corporate Executives has called on the Japanese government to being forward the planned expansion of Tokyo International Airport at Haneda, asking it to agree a plan to enlarge its capacity by March 2002.…

Keith Nuthall
TIGHTER noise restrictions on commercial aircraft visiting European Union airports have been proposed by the European Commission; it has tabled a new directive that would allow the worst affected airports to ban aircraft that marginally comply with the existing Chapter 3 standard accepted by the International Civil Aviation Organisation, (ICAO).…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
THE NEW Tokyo International Airport Authority has proposed raising landing fees at Narita Airport during negotiations launched recently with the International Air Transportation Association (IATA). The Shipping and Trade News has reported that the authority wants to raise its fees by Yen 200 per tonne to Yen 2,600, (US$20.84), when a new runway opens next April, citing increased labour costs.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Commission paper Working together for the Future of European Tourism has proposed the establishment of research centres serving the industry at national, regional and local levels. It has also proposed the development of statistical benchmarks to evaluate EU tourist services and destinations.…