Speaking after the IACA Board of Directors’ meeting in Brussels, IACA’s President, Christoph Mueller, called on the European Parliament’s ENVI committee to recognise the harsh reality of the current aviation business environment and to vote for a workable and affordable Emissions Trading System (ETS).

IACA’s Board continues to support the inclusion of aviation into the EU ETS and remains committed to addressing their members’ environment responsibilities.  However, it has serious concerns with the Rapporteur’s (Peter Liese MEP) punitive draft amendments which recommend 100% auctioning from 2013 and a closed trading system for aviation.

“This industry is simply not a state to cope with the huge additional costs that 100% auctioning would bring,” said Christoph Mueller.

IACA estimates that if 100% auctioning was introduced in 2013, it would mean €15bn per year in additional costs which they are unlikely to be able to absorb.

“The current economic downturn and record fuel costs are already hitting the industry hard and we are seeing the impact of these on a daily basis.  Any further pressure on costs would have serious consequences for the sector, as well as for the wider European economy, tourism and regional connectivity,” continued Mueller.

“IACA remains committed to the ETS only if it is well designed, manageable and affordable.  We urge the Parliament and the Council to vote for a reasonable and efficient system.  A punitive design would blatantly disregard today’s economic realities.”