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March 2006 - Welcome to the IAOPA Europe enews which goes to 23,000 aircraft owners and pilots in 27 countries across the continent

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)


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