EU Parliament backs red tape and increased costs to passengers

• Industry operational experts largely ignored by MEPs in amended safety regulation.
• Changes approved today will only increase bureaucracy and costs to passengers without any improvement in safety standards.

Members of the European Parliament (MEP) have voted to increase bureaucracy and costs to passengers through the amendments introduced to the European Aviation Safety Agency’s (EASA) Basic Regulation.

“It is really disappointing that MEPs have largely ignored the expertise of the airline industry and have voted to support red tape and higher costs to passengers. The amendments approved today will not improve safety standards in any way but will increase the bill paid by passengers to fund bureaucracy”, said Thomas Reynaert, Managing Director of A4E.

“The rejection of the Commission’s proposal to streamline the airplane leasing approval process in case of unforeseen circumstances will hamper airlines’ ability to provide fast and effective assistance to customers when there are disruptions. We are doing our best to address our passengers’ needs, while MEPs are simply reject lifting unnecessary administrative burdens”, he added.

Other areas of concern for A4E include the non-transparent transfer of air navigation charges to fund EASA and the rejection of the Commission’s proposal to streamline the airplane leasing approval process in case of unforeseen circumstances to mitigate disruptions, both of which will lead to additional costs to customers.

“Safety is our primary objective and we will continue to engage fully during the next stage of the legislative process. It is however imperative that our extensive operational experience and expertise is taken into consideration to improve safety standards and passengers are not asked to bear the costs”, concluded Reynaert.