By Martin Banks - 14th September 2011
You would expect the EU regulators to be on our side
Steve Ridgway
The boss of airline giant Virgin Atlantic has urged the EU to lift the "cloud of uncertainty" hanging over the aviation industry.
Speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, Steve Ridgway said he was generally in favour of an emissions trading scheme (ETS) for the airline sector.
While it offered an alternative to "vitriolic" national taxation schemes against the airline industry, it also had to be "workable", he said.
He also warned that the EU was, at present, struggling to meet a deadline of 1 January 2012 for introduction of the so-called ETS.
Addressing a meeting of aviation experts from around Europe, he said, "A vibrant aviation industry is required to sustain Europe's economic development.
"I am today appealing to the EU to come up with a workable emissions trading scheme.
"Failure to do so will put at risk the competitiveness of the whole aviation industry. This is the last thing we can need at a time when economies are struggling."
He added, "At a time of severe economic problems you would expect the EU regulators to be on our side but I am not sure this is the case."
He told the meeting that up to 2020, the ETS will cost Europe's aviation industry some €3.1bn.
Ridgway, current chairman of the Brussels-based Association of European Airways, said, "We want the ETS to work, but the European commission must also realise the risk to the competitiveness of the aviation industry."
He emphasized the importance of the aviation sector to Europe's economy, saying it contributed some €300bn to the continent's GDP annually.
The official said the industry supports some 4500 jobs and operates 12,000 flights each day.
But he also warned that the sector is currently "over-taxed and over-regulated".
He said, "Aviation is a key economic generator but this, I am afraid to say, is often overlooked. We do not talk about this as much as we should."
