Finns hold out for hush-kit deal

Date: 28/10/1999

By Renée Cordes

FINLAND is to give the European Commission and the US more time to forge a united front on aircraft noise standards before deciding whether to press for a further delay to the Union's controversial ban on 'hush-kitted' aircraft.

After a meeting of EU transport ministers earlier this month, the Finnish presidency urged the Commission to 'intensify consultations' with Washington with a view to reaching a common understanding on new international noise rules by the end of October.

Helsinki said then that if the Commission was satisfied with the outcome of the talks, it would give the issue “appropriate priority”, signalling that EU governments would modify or even postpone the ban on hush-kits again.

The measure approved by member states earlier this year would outlaw planes fitted with the devices, which reduce engine noise levels to the levels required under International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules. Airlines would be prevented from registering hush-kitted planes in the Union from May 2000, and flying those registered in other countries from 2002.

The ban was originally due to come into force this spring, but EU governments agreed to delay it for a year following pressure from Washington. The US claimed the move would hit more than h1-billion worth of American-made equipment.

US and Commission officials insist they are making progress towards agreeing a common stance on new ICAO noise standards which could supersede the hush-kit measure, but there has been only one low-level meeting between the two sides since transport ministers met. As a result, talks are likely to drag on for several more weeks.