20 October 2010
European Union Transportation Commissioner, Siim Kallas, discussed future challenges for aviation in Europe at the first meeting of the Aviation Platform. The Aviation Platform has been set up to give strategic advice to Mr Kallas in order to establish the basis for a sustainable future for air transport and a competitive future for the European aviation industry. It is foreseen that the Platform, which is Chaired by the Transportation Commissioner, will meet twice per year to discuss the strategic challenges for the European aviation sector.
The main conclusions from the Platform include the need to:
- ensure full implementation of the EU Single European Sky (SES) programme. The SES was launched by the European Commission in 2004 to reform the architecture of European air traffic management;
- extend the work already being done by the Commission to strengthen the possibilities for European aviation to enter new markets, through the signing of bi-lateral agreements;
- define an effective governance structure for the future deployment of the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) programme, the technological arm of Single European Sky (SES);
- extend the SES principles to areas beyond the borders of the European Union; and
- establish a high level group on aviation research to look into the specific challenges faced by the aviation sector in this area.