NEWSWEEK Italy’s airports need a single regulator I


taly’s airports need a single regulator, according to Olivier Jankovec, director


general of Airports Council Inter- national (ACI) Europe. Speaking at an event held by Italy’s civil aviation


authority, Ente Nazionale per l’Aviazi- one Civile, Jankovec described the Italian


system for regulating airport charges as having been, “highly ineffective”. He went on to say: “There there has been a lethal combination of excessive bureau- cracy, political interference and a lack of focus, in particular, as all Italian airports are regulated irrespective of whether


Gulf needs support


they possess any substantial market power.” Jankovec also called for, “not only an empowered single regulator with the appropriate expertise and resources, but also a rethink of when and how regulation should come into play.” As highlighted by Jankovec, Italian air- ports are hampered by inconsistency across airport charges, with policies remaining unchanged in the decade to 2012. According to ACI, the situation is pre- venting airports from developing, which is in turn delaying job creation and economic recovery across Italy. New charge levels have been imple-


mented in the larger airports in Rome, Milan, Venice, Catania and Palermo since 2012, but other airports continue to suf- fer. The role of an independent regulatory authority that was established in 2012 is yet to be clarified and this is another issue.


INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION (IATA) has called for cooperation and global standards to sup- port aviation in the Gulf region. Speaking at the Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi,


IATA’s director general and chief executive officer, Tony Tyler, outlined what the Gulf needs to do to continue with its aviation successes. “Airspace is finite, so capacity can only grow with efficiency. Each country has invested in impressive tech- nology – but effective management needs regional and international teamwork”, he says.


“Congestion is a real and rising problem, and it grows with each new aircraft that is delivered. Unless it is dealt with expeditiously, the efficient hub operations which are supporting the region’s success will begin to unravel.” IATA identified opportunities for progress in Gulf aviation in two key areas. Firstly, flexible use of military airspace, as between 40 and 60 per cent of Gulf airspace is re- served for military use. “We are trying to squeeze the fast-growing civil aviation component into a fraction of the airspace. One solution is to develop partnerships and trust with the military to open more flexible use zones. That is happening progres- sively,


but it is not keeping pace with demand for air


travel,” says Tyler. Secondly, seamless use of airspace. The Arabian Peninsula was traditionally operated as one Flight Information Region (FIR) from Bahrain, and is today split into six. “For an airline, the important thing is to get from point A to point B as smoothly as possible. The challenge for the air navigation service providers is to work together to make that happen as seamlessly across six FIRs as if there were one,” adds Tyler.


He urged the industry to learn from the mistakes of Eu- rope, where the failure to establish a Single European Sky has resulted in what Tyler calls, “an inefficient and frag- mented air traffic management system that is a burden on European competitiveness.” IATA also urged the Gulf region to continue to base its growth on global standards, and encouraged stakehold- ers to strengthen their competitive advantage with early adoption of key industry initiatives such as the IATA Fast Travel programme, Smart Security and e-freight.


ACW 14 APRIL 2014 3


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12