Aerospace Diary

AAA_March-April_2012_eBook.xml

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Feb 24, 2012 Representatives of Non –EU Members of International Civil Aviation Organisation Meet in Moscow -STATEMENT The representatives from Armenia, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Republic of Belarus, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Chili, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Malaysia, Nigeria, Paraguay, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Uganda and United States of America of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) met in Moscow on February 21 and 22, 2012 and reaffirmed the importance of the role of the ICAO in addressing international civil aviation emissions, including pursuant to the request from the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The countries gathered in Moscow reiterated the importance of Kyoto Protocol to its Parties as well as importance of Chicago Convention and the need to ensure full compliance with its provisions. Ch. Ajit Singh, the Minister of...

Neelam Mathews Feb 6, 2012 Asia’s frustration with the ETS is clear as China bans its airlines not to pay a charge on carbon emissions imposed by the Europe Union (EU), and neither to hike freights nor to add other fees accordingly without government permission, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has said. The CAAC said in a statement that it had been authorized by the State Council, China’s Cabinet, to notify the ban to all domestic airlines. The statement said the EU’s decision to charge flights into and out of EU airports for carbon emission “runs contrary to relevant principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the international civil aviation regulations.” It is estimated that around 4,000 airlines will pay the EU for their carbon emissions. “China objects to the EU’s decision to impose the scheme on non-EU airlines, and has expressed its concerns over the scheme through various channels,” the statement said. “China will consid...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Dec 23, 201 1 As the Jan 1 deadline for EUs ETS draws closer, Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) says it is deeply concerned that fundamental political differences between the EU and non-EU governments regarding the application of the EU ETS to international airlines remain unresolved, leading to heightened fears about the threat of retaliatory measures that could be detrimental to the interests of the air transport industry and the travelling public. Notwithstanding the recent opinions expressed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), numerous foreign governments have reiterated their strong objections, on both legal and policy grounds, to the inclusion of foreign carriers in the EU ETS without the consent of foreign governments. Commenting on the dispute, Andrew Herdman, AAPA Director General, said: “The EU has painted itself into a corner, by stubbornly refusing to recognise the legitimacy of the concerns repeatedly voiced by for...

Neelam Mathews Dec 21, 2011 With EU moving relentlessly ahead with the Emission Trading Scheme, India is planning to ask EU to bring the ETS into the Horizontal Aviation Agreement, that has not as yet been ratified, Aerospace Diary learns.  A high level civil aviation delegation is also looking at heading to Washington early in January to discuss with the US government, its dissenting partner, on the way forward to deal with stubborn EU. Initiated in 2008 in Brussels, a Horizontal Aviation Agreement is expected to restore legal certainty to the bilateral air services agreements between India and 26 EU Member States. The agreement will bring several provisions in the 26 bilateral air services agreements between EU Member States and India in line with EU law. This was to remove nationality restrictions in the bilateral air services agreements between EU Member States and India and thereby allow any EU airline to operate flights between India and any EU Member State where it ...

Neelam Mathews Dec 21, 2011 Even as the Indian government asked its airlines not to submit carbon emissions data to the European Union for the Emissi on s Trading System (ETS) that becomes applicable from Jan1, the Eu ropean Court of J us tice today, has thrown out a US -led challenge to paying the ETS tax. ''I am of course very satisfied to see that the Court clearly concluded that the EU Directive is fully compatible with international law. A number of American airlines decided to challenge our legislation in court and thus abide by the rule of law. So now we expect them to respect European law. We reaffirm our wish to engage constructively with everyone during the implementation of our legislation," C on nie Hedegaard EU Commissioner for Climate Action said. “US airlines challenged EU law in court. After crystal clear ruling today, EU now expects US airlines to respect EU law, as EU respects US law,” says Hedegaard. This is opening fears of a possible trade w...

Neelam Mathews Oct 6, 2011 Time- 5:51pm IST The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) which has been vociferous about the EU-ETS has reacted strongly on the Court of Justice decision on the ETS filed by Aerospace Diary (below). “We are disappointed that the Advocate General seems to have failed to grasp what is under dispute in this case. Arguing that the EU is not a party to the Chicago Convention and therefore not bound by its provisions, ignores the fact that all EU Member States are parties to that Convention, and this case was originally brought against the UK Government, not the EU per se,” says Andrew Herdman, Director General, AAPA to Aerospace Diary. More generally, foreign governments are unlikely to accept this interpretation of the validity of the EU ETS being imposed unilaterally on foreign airlines, so this is certainly not the end of the matter, says Herdman.  “Notwithstanding this legal opinion, more than 20 foreign governments have expressed their str...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Aug 3, 2011 As the deadline draws closer, the proposed inclusion of international aviation in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), without the consent of foreign governments, has led to a growing barrage of objections given the draconian penalties threatened for any non-compliance.  At the same time, foreign governments have repeatedly expressed their strong objections to the EU ETS being imposed unilaterally by the EU, in breach of international treaty obligations and bilateral aviation agreements. A number of foreign governments have called for their airlines to be exempt from the EU ETS, including US, China and India.  A legal test case brought by a number of US carriers against the EU ETS in the UK, as the relevant administering authority, was referred to the European Court of Justice, with a hearing held on July 5. Initial findings expected in October, although a full judgment will probably not be available until sometime in 201...