EU seeks ways to exempt noisy Russian airplanes

Date: 11/04/02

By Laurence Frost

EU GOVERNMENTS could be encouraged to 'bend the rules' banning older, noisier aircraft from their airports, after Russia threatened new restrictions and higher charges for European airlines flying across its territory.

The European Commission is to meet member state representatives on 22 April to give guidance on a 'flexible approach' to implementing the ban on noisy aircraft that came into force across the EU on 1 April.

Older 'chapter two' planes that emit noise above a certain threshold are excluded from EU airports under a 1992 directive implementing noise limits agreed unanimously by members of the International Civil Aviation Organisation - including the then Soviet Union.

But Russia, fearing the exclusion of its ageing charter and cargo aircraft fleets, has demanded that the ban be lifted or postponed in the EU, and has already threatened new flight restrictions against European carriers, including KLM and Finnair.

Airlines say Russia has also hinted that it may increase the fees it demands for stopping over at its airports or over-flying the country on the way to destinations such as Japan - currently estimated at €340,000 a year.

'There have been verbal warnings that these charges could be increased,' said a source. 'The Commission is looking at how far [member states] can bend the rules.'

The noise ban is expected mainly to affect charter operators that bring hundreds of thousands of Russians to summer destinations such as Spain, Greece, Italy and France. Considerable numbers also travel to Germany, Finland and Sweden throughout the year.

Cargo services are also affected, although Russian operators' involvement in humanitarian and military transport - exempted from the restrictions - should leave them enough flexibility to allocate quieter planes to other flights.

The Commission is looking at ways in which exemptions allowed in 'exceptional circumstances' could be used to prevent cancellation of charter services due to the lack of modern planes.

An official close to the talks said exceptions might be made for noisy planes 'if it can be demonstrated that the service couldn't be offered with another aircraft'.

A spokesman for transport chief Loyola de Palacio insisted the Commission was sticking by the rules, while seeking a 'common interpretation of the possible exemptions that doesn't contradict the directive'.

'The exemptions offer the possibility to accept certain non-compliant planes,' Gilles Gantelet said.

Member states should 'find an agreement with the Russians so that they fly only to secondary airports' where noise is less of a problem, away from population centres.

EU governments could be encouraged to 'bend the rules' banning older, noisier aircraft from their airports, after Russia threatened new restrictions and higher charges for European airlines flying across its territory.