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IAOPA-Europe e-newsletter, March
2006
Welcome to the
third monthly e-news of IAOPA-Europe, which reaches 23,000
AOPA members across the continent of Europe. This e-news
is made possible by our lead sponsors ExxonMobil Aviation
Lubricants, whose Elite 20W-50 is the first aviation oil
formulation for piston-engine aircraft to appear on the
market in more than a decade. (See below)
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Can't pay, won't pay
General
aviation could be priced out of involvement in Europe's future
airspace structure if European Commission plans to charge huge
sums of money for participation are not stopped. The EC wants GA
to pay 250,000 euros a year to be part of an administration
board for SESAR, the air traffic system due to be introduced in
Europe around 2020. The demand effectively makes participation
impossible.
The Commission wants the administration to be
funded by the participants, with major companies like Airbus or
Boeing paying 10 million euros, and poor relations like IAOPA
and the trades unions paying 250,000 euros. Through AOPA-Germany
and its managing director Michael Erb, IAOPA has already
underwritten a massive investment in the definition phase of
SESAR, but is likely to get most of that money back from the EC
if the work is done on time and accepted. The definition phase
ends in 2008, and the implementation phase begins.
In
order to set up the system, an Administration Board will be
formed consisting of the EC, Eurocontrol, the airlines,
equipment manufacturers and other interested parties who can
afford to pay. IAOPA is concerned that if the Board is dom
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