The SEAPLANE Project

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The SEAPLANE Project

• 3. November 2005, Bergamo

Network Activity Consultations by the
ECResolution by the SEAPLANE Partners
Dr Benedikt Mandel MKmetric Gesellschaft für
Systemplanung mbH, Karlsruhe
info_at_mkm.de
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Consultations

• Commercial Slot Allocation Consultation
  process interrupted New study on secondary slot
  trading ongoing New consultation process
  foreseen Action by partners?
• State Aid Consultation process
  interrupted New suggestions for a regulation
  worked out by DG-TREN, ongoing New consultation
  process foreseen Action by partners?
• Airport Capacity, Efficiency and
  Safety Consultation process terminating
  15.11.2005 Action by partners?

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Activities

• Contact to EC officers in charge Mr van
  Voorst Mrs Colucci Mrs Poralla
• Check of EC publication and web site
  http//europa.eu.int/comm/transport/air/rules/comp
  etition2/consultation_revision_95
  http//www.europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/energy_transport
  /state_aid/transport_en.htm http//europa.eu.int
  /comm/transport/air/safety/consultation_en.htm
• Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions
  (CPMR) Participation at the September meeting
  Development of a CPMR air transport programme

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State Aid Consultation
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State Aid I
Legal framework specifying the conditions of
granting public subsidies to air transport 1.
Classification of airports Category A more
than 10 Mio passengers Category B between 5
and 10 Mio passengers Category C between 1 and
5 Mio passengers Category D less than 1 Mio
passengers The categories are incompatible
between different EC institutions, e.g. TEN. 2.
Financing of airport infrastructure and equipment
or direct support. A and B no subsidies at all
allowed C case by case evaluation, prior
notification D - by exception, no prior
notification
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State Aid
Legal framework specifying the conditions of
granting public subsidies to air transport 3.
Aid for operation of airport infrastructure and
airport services operation only under
exceptional circumstances services D airports
may ask for compensation for assistance in
stopover 4. Start-up Aids A no subsidies for
service / operation B - only under exceptional
circumstances C and D eventually approved by
EC, no objection for initial help for
services between outermost regions and
neighbouring countries
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Capacity, Efficiency and Safety Consultation
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Capacity, Efficiency, Safety I

• 1. Capacity Optimise the use of existing
  capacity Increase the efficiency in air traffic
  management
• 2. Airports relationship with other
  modes Substitute feeder flights with high
  quality rail services Promote integrated
  air-rail services, complementarities of modes No
  start-up aid for a new air route corresponding to
  a high speed train link Substitute short-haul
  connections (lt600km or 3h journey time) Refuse
  air traffic rights to an airport when an
  efficient rail link exist Provision of a
  directive on airport charges concerning the
  substitution Amend public service obligation
  (Art. 4 PSO) if adequate rail service exists EU
  support on physical infrastructure to access
  airports by rail
• Benchmarking of airport ground access (no
  regulatory foreseen) Fostering a better modal
  split by proper signing, innovative
  pricing, information and comfort

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Capacity, Efficiency, Safety II
3. Consistency between ATFM and airport
slotsMandate to Eurocontrol to develop rules for
ATFM improvement including data exchange and
communication flows on airport capacity
declaration, initial airport slot allocation,
commercial scheduling and strategic ATFM
capacity planningComprehensive capacity
assessment exercise (rolling 5 year period,
existing capacity, traffic forecast, constraints
and potential capacity enhancements) 4.
Environment and land-use managementFurther
initiatives and regulations by EC on land-use
planning and managementDifferentiation of
airport charges according to environmental
performance
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Capacity, Efficiency, Safety III
5. Sources of funding airport infrastructureFinan
cing of large scale airport extension and
refurbishment projects have to be born by user
charges, pre-funding of airport projects
(ICAO)Not self sufficient peripheral airports
can be supported whereby cross- subsidization
has to be made transparentDefinition and
implementation of principles for airport
infrastructure pre-financingDirective on
principles of airport charges 6. State AidNew
regulation forthcomingAs a general rule new
airport capacity or significant increase of
airport capacity has to be financed from airport
charges and fees European regional development
fund (ERDF) can support airport development at
regions of objective 1 status (national
guidelines respected, max 75) For objective 2
regions no funding is allowed for airside
facilities, certain non-aviation infrastructure
at or around airports could receive limited
support New member states, Greece, Spain and
Portugal can be supported by the cohesion fund,
rules very strict, have to correspond with the
TEN priorities
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Capacity, Efficiency, Safety IV
7. Benchmarking and dissemination of best
practiceCreation of a specific group / forum of
airports in order to centralise data collection
and facilitate the dissemination of best practice
(observatory) 8. Relationship between
airportsExtension of the remit of the European
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to cover the
development and issuance of operational standards
for the implementation and operation of tested
tools (airport operation models, collaborative
decision making, new instrument landing
procedures) 9. ATM safety at airportsExtension
of European Aviation Safety Agencys (EASAs)
mandate to the airport domain to develop and
implement a more consistent approach to airport
safety across all member states
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Capacity, Efficiency, Safety IV
10. Traffic distribution for capacity management
within airport systemsDevelopment of rules by
the EC on traffic distributionEncourage member
states to form more airport systems (2or more
airports serving a town / region) 11.
Secondary airportsNew air service agreements
with third countries to allow for more direct
servicesModulation of airport charges at
congested airportsStart-up aid to airlines
departing from regional airportsIncrease
attractiveness of secondary airports by e.g.
improvement of surface transport or public
financial support for investments
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The SEAPLANE Resolution
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Framework

• Partnership
• 13 regions representing
• 21 airports
• Project topics
• Sustainable air transport
• Economic impact of the airport on the region
• Comparative analysis of airports
• Airport ownership
• Airport development opportunities
• Passenger market potential analysis (ex post ex
  ante)
• Airport security
• Networking, e.g.SEAPLANE resolution on improved
  accessibility of regions

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Accessibility - North Sea Region
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Findings in SEAPLANE

• Regional airports constitute an important element
  in regional economic development.
• Regional airports provide the crucial
  infrastructure necessary to secure the lifeline
  air services and to ensure a regions
  accessibility to and from national and
  international economic centres.
• Linking airports of peripheral regions to
  national and international network airports with
  sufficient frequency to offer suitable
  interlining opportunities facilitates the EU
  policy objectives.
• The current process of slot allocation at
  congested EU national and international network
  airports hinders the retention and development of
  adequate air services to and from peripheral
  regions

Measures to improve the situation...
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Suggested Measures

• Amend the existing slot allocation rules at
  network airports- application of new entrants
  rule, define peripheral, define vital for
  regional economic, define adequate service,
  objective management tool
• Revise and improve the rules for Public Service
  Obligations (PSO) - co-ordination across EU,
  simplify process, extension up to 5 years, allow
  for competition, first allocate slots for PSO,
  concentrate PSO on accessibility of regions,
  designate PSO to specific network airports
• Facilitate the provision of start-up aid (route
  development funds)- increase regional/national
  funds, allow for route start up help, concentrate
  on routes for business development
• Improve EU monitoring of adequate runway capacity
  - increase air traffic management efficiency,
  increase peak time capacity, ensure timely
  development of capacity at network airports

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Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93
Article 9 - Regional services 1. A Member State
may reserve certain slots at a fully coordinated
airport for domestic scheduled services
(a) on a route to an airport serving a
peripheral or development region in its
territory, any such route being considered vital
for the economic development of the region
in which the airport is located, on condition
that (i) the slots concerned are being used
on that route at the time of entry into
force of this Regulation (ii) only one air
carrier is operating on the route (iii) no
other mode of transport can provide an adequate
service (iv) the reservation of slots shall
end when a second air carrier has
established a domestic scheduled service on the
route with the same number of frequencies
as the first air carrier and operated it for at
least a season (b) on routes where
public service obligations (PSO) have been
imposed under Community legislation.
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Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93
Article 9 - Regional services 2. The procedures
in Article 4 (1) (d) to 4 (1) (i) of Regulation
(EEC) No 2408/92 shall be applied if another
Community air carrier is interested in servicing
the route and has not been able to obtain
slots within one hour before or after the
times requested of the coordinator. 3. The
Member State shall communicate to the Commission
a list of routes for which slots have been
so reserved at a fully coordinated airport. This
shall first be done at the entry into force
of this Regulation. The Commission shall publish
an overview of the routes concerned in the
Official Journal of the European Communities
not later than two months after the
communication.
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Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93
Article 10 - Slot pool 1. At an airport where
slot allocation takes place, a pool shall be set
up for each coordinated period and shall
contain newly created slots, unused slots and
slots which have been given up by a carrier
during, or by the end of, the season or
which otherwise become available. 2. Any slot
not utilized shall be withdrawn and placed in the
appropriate slot pool unless the
non-utilization can be justified by reason of the
grounds of the grounding of an aircraft
type, or the closure of an airport or airspace or
other similarly exceptional case. 3. Slots
which are allocated to an air carrier for the
operation of a scheduled service or a
programmed non-scheduled service on a particular
moment of a day and for the same day of the
week over a recognizable period up to one
scheduling period shall not entitle that air
carrier to the same series of slots in the
next equivalent period, unless the air carrier
can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the
coordinator that they have been operated, as
cleared by the coordinator, by that air
carrier for at least 80 of the time during the
period for which they have been allocated.
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Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93
Article 10 - Slot pool 4. Slots allocated to an
air carrier before 31 January for the following
summer season, or before 31 August for the
following winter season, but which are
returned to the coordinator for reallocation
before those dates shall not be taken into
account for the purposes of the usage
calculation. 5. If the 80 usage of the series
of slots cannot be demonstrated, all the slots
constituting that series shall be placed in the
slot pool, unless the non-utilization can be
justified on the basis of any of the following
reasons (a) unforeseeable and irresistible
cases outside the air carrier's control leading
to, for example - grounding of
the aircraft type generally used for the service
in question, or - closure of an airport
or airspace (b) problems relating to the
starting up of a new scheduled passenger service
with aircraft of no more than eighty
seats on a route between a regional
airport and the coordinated airport and where the
capacity does not exceed 30 000 seats
per year, or
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Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93
Article 10 - Slot pool (c) serious financial
damage for a Community air carrier concerned,
with, as a result, the granting of a
temporary licence by the licensing authorities
pending financial reorganization of the
air carrier in accordance with Article 5 (5) of
Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92 (d) an
interruption of a series of non-scheduled
services due to cancellations by tour
operators, in particular outside the usual peak
period, provided that overall slot usage
does not fall below 70 (e) an
interruption of a series of services due to
action intended to affect these
services, which makes it practically and/or
technically impossible for the air
carrier to carry out operations as planned. 6.
If serious problems continue to exist for new
entrants, the Member State shall ensure that
a meeting of the airport coordination committee
is convened. The purpose of the meeting
shall be to examine possibilities for remedying
the situation. The Commission shall be
invited to such a meeting.
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Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93
Article 10 - Slot pool 7. Without prejudice to
Article 8 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92,
slots placed in the pools shall be
distributed among applicant carriers. 50 of
these slots shall be allocated to new
entrants unless requests by new entrants are less
than 50 . 8. A new entrant which has been
offered slots within two hours before or after
the time requested but has not accepted this
offer shall not retain the new entrant
status.
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Dissemination of the Resolution
13 regional authorities

April 04
Resolution
EU Political Transport Institutions
EU Aviation Associations
EU Political Institutions
CPMR
CoR
NSC
DG Regio
MEP
AEA
ACI
ERA
EU Parliament
EC DG TREN, Direction F, Airport Policy
Nov 04
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Further Actions

• Endorsement of the resolution by
• the 15 SEAPLANE partners,
• North Sea Commission (NSC) and
• Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions
  (CPMR).
• Presentation of the resolution to the
  representatives of DG TREN, DG REGIO, airport
  associations and the public in Brussels.
• Participation of the partners in the EC
  consultation process on the commercial slot
  allocation mechanism.

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Status Consultation Process

• Review of comments and replies
• Summary for policy decision makers
• Publication of the results and comments pending
• Decision by DG TREN about the way forward
• Development of a new discussion paper pending
  Reasons commercial legal aspects of
  airports airlines
  comments of regions reflecting cohesion policy.
  New topic Secondary trading.
• New consultation process after the dissemination
  of the secondary slot trading process.

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Next Steps ?
Is there any interest to continue pushing the
resolution on EU level? Who will participate in
the next round of the EC consultation on slot
regulation to extend the slot allocation process
towards the benefit of the regions
accessibility? Is there any interest in the
other two ongoing consultations state aid and
capacity? Who will co-ordinate the related
activities respectively the networking?
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Thank you!