Russia has announced it will impose restrictions on European
commercial airlines entering its airspace in response to EU transport
ministers' formal decision today to approve a new law phasing out the
noisiest aircraft at the bloc's airports, according to reports from
Moscow.
News agencies reported the Russian transport minister as having
initially targeted flights from Scandinavia in a retaliatory protest
against the regulation, which the government says could stop up to
1,000 of its aircraft using major EU airports.
The new EU law was adopted today as a replacement for controversial
legislation banning "hushkit" engine mufflers, and will enter
force
next Monday. It was agreed in record time after a delegation from the
European parliament and the council of ministers reached agreement on
remaining outstanding points this morning (ED 15/03/02
http://www.environmentdaily.com/articles/index.cfm?action=article&ref=11791
).
Under the law, aircraft that are only "marginally compliant"
with
minimum global aircraft noise standards will be denied access to large
airports over a five-year period. The shift to regulating aircraft
noise levels rather than technologies followed a global agreement under
the International civil aviation organisation and defused a row with
the USA (ED 05/10/01
http://www.environmentdaily.com/articles/index.cfm?action=article&ref=10751).
Though earlier drafts of the law suggested that the restrictions would
be implemented at the discretion of airport authorities, European
Commission officials said today that all airports covered by the scope
would have to implement the curbs. Those able to demonstrate a less
acute noise problem could be exempted, but only temporarily, they
said.
Officials also dismissed Russian complaints that the move
discriminated against them. The new rules included provisions allowing
flights on marginally compliant planes to smaller airports in less
densely populated areas, they said.
Follow-up: EU council of ministers http://www.consilium.eu.int/,
tel: +32 2 285
6211.
-------------------------
Dear Madam,
Dear Sir,
Your report 1186 of Februari 26, 2002, entitled "Russia announces
curbs on
EU
aircraft" is completely off the mark. I have rarely seen such a mismatch
of
information:
In fact, the Russians are unhappy about the possible enforcement of a
10
year
old directive (92/14) banning Chapter II aircrafts as of April 1st, 2002.
This has nothing to do with the recently approved new directive on airport
noise that does not achieve anything other than cancelling Regulation
1999/925, the piece of legislation that was to ban the addition of
Hushkitted
(marginally Chapter III-compliant) aircrafts in Europe by the same date
and
had been so fiercely fought by the US.
Sincerely,
Eric Monami