Enough is enough, say Asia Pacific airlines
News that the European Union will delay the implementation of the emissions trading system (ETS) to await a global solution will encourage Asia Pacific airlines to continue to challenge government constraints.
Speaking at the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) assembly of presidents in Kuala Lumpur, Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general, said Asia Pacific carriers were playing a major role in global industry developments, "but are still hampered by the straitjacket of overreaching government policies, particularly from the United States and European Union impacting global aviation".
He added, "The bold initiatives being taken by Asia Pacific carriers to change the competitive landscape offer great promise to the travelling public, but governments seem oblivious to the counterproductive impact of never-ending legislation and taxation."
Revenue hungry governments worldwide still viewed aviation as a tempting target for arbitrary taxes, he said, "despite aviation’s vital role as a key driver of social and economic development worldwide".
AAPA has called on government agencies to consult widely with the aviation industry in order to strike a better balance between national border control objectives and the need for efficient passenger facilitation, "and to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated towards both inbound and outbound passenger processing at border controls, taking into account the growth in passenger numbers over time".
Herdman said the carriage of passengers and cargo by air was extremely secure, "yet current security procedures do not appear to properly balance risks against costs and inconvenience to the travelling public".
"Given widespread international dissatisfaction with the current approach, AAPA urges governments to instead develop and implement intelligence-led, outcome-based, security measures that more realistically balance risks against the costs and inconvenience imposed on the travelling public," he added.
Ian Jarrett
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