Climate-change row over EU 'open skies' air deal

The European Union is planning to back an aviation deal with the US that it hopes will boost the number of people flying across the Atlantic, only weeks after it agreed on ambitious targets to reduce its contribution to global warming.

EU transport ministers meet tomorrow to approve the “open skies” pact negotiated with the US – a move that will increase transatlantic carbon dioxide emissions.

The deal would lift restrictions from October 28 on what transatlantic routes airlines can offer, which should help cut air fares.

The pact will allow European airlines to fly from anywhere in the EU to any point in the US, shedding current strict rules that do not allow them to charge what they like.

The EU said this would reduce the cost of tickets, putting an extra 26 million people on transatlantic flights. Just under 50 million travellers now fly those routes.

But that will also add an extra 3.56 tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere as the EU tries to curb emissions across the board and encourage the US to do the same, the European Federation for Transport and Environment says.

The group said it had written to ministers asking them to vote against the deal, saying it would “clearly be wrong to fail to consider the environmental impact of the open skies agreement”.

It said the pact removed the main tool governments had to reduce CO2 emissions because it forbade fuel taxes on transatlantic flights – in line with international aviation law.

Although aviation contributes a small share of the EU’s overall greenhouse gas emissions – around 3% – the sector is growing rapidly as a wave of low-cost airlines have taken Europeans to the skies for bargain basement prices over the past 15 years.

According to the EU’s own analysis, emissions from the EU’s international flights will have increased 150% from 1990 by 2012, cutting into more than a quarter of the EU’s CO2 reductions as it tries to meet Kyoto Protocol targets.

This is why the EU’s environment chief in December proposed to cap and trade all airline emissions – including international flights – from 2012, immediately sparking protest from US officials who warned that this would breach international law.

But negotiations on the “open skies” deal skirted around this entirely.

An EU official, speaking anonymously because he was not authorised to discuss the issue with the press, said it could not be debated because the emissions trading programme still had not been agreed with EU ministers and the European Parliament – and probably would not be until next year.

“It’s very difficult to negotiate something which does not exist,” he said.

He rejected the environmentalists’ claim that the pact did not tackle environmental issues, saying it was “conscious about the problem with emissions” and both sides would seek the most fuel-efficient routes for flying the Atlantic and managing air traffic.

He said no studies had yet been carried out on how far these measures would go to cut carbon.

The EU has measured the impact of the deal in economic terms – claiming it will generate benefits of up to €6.3bn in five years as ticket prices fall, airlines generate savings and the market grows. That would also create up to 80,000 jobs spread equally between Europe and the US, it said.

But other officials said they could not estimate how the forecasts would be affected by other important factors such as governmental environmental initiatives like Britain’s climate change passenger tax and higher oil prices.

The EU executive has said emissions trading would add costs to flights, claiming these would be minimal and far lower than recent oil price increases passed on to travellers.

But it is unclear how far these will go to cancel out any of the benefits of increased competition on transatlantic travel.

Diplomats and officials were tight-lipped yesterday on British efforts to win a stay of execution for Heathrow airport, which, under the deal, would have to open up air traffic rights to other airlines outside of the four that now have the lucrative right to fly to the US

EU officials insisted that the negotiations were a done deal and Britain could ask for extras – such as more time for British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines and United Airlines to enjoy their joint monopoly before new rivals emerged.

They said they would monitor US efforts to make more concessions on opening up its domestic market to foreign investment .

However, opening up Heathrow will not mean a free-for-all as only those companies that already have coveted slots at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest hub, will benefit until a new terminal opens up more opportunities to new carriers.

“British Midland has slots. They would like to fly from Heathrow across the Atlantic. Aer Lingus has slots they cannot fly,” the EU official said, mentioning smaller European airlines that could benefit from the deal.