VIEWPOINT
Seeing red on green taxes
Government needs to back emission-reducing technology not pile
taxes with a green label on aviation, says Giovanni Bisignani
AIRLINES are in crisis. In five years fuel has
gone from 14 per cent of operating costs to
more than 34 per cent. If oil prices average
$135 for the rest of the year, the industry bill
will be $190bn (£99m). And next year it could
be more than $250bn. There is no alternative to
kerosene. Saving fuel not only reduces CO 2
emissions — it is a matter of survival.
IATA’s environment leadership is
delivering results after working with our
members to implement best practice in fuel
management. In 2007 this saved 6.7 million
tonnes of CO 2 and $1.3bn. Our work with
governments and air navigation service
providers meant optimising 395 routes and
procedures in 81 airports, saving 3.8 million
tonnes of CO 2 and $831m in costs. With better
air traffic management, up to 73 million tonnes
of CO 2 could be saved but while painting
themselves green to win votes governments
are slow to deliver results.
After decades of discussion, instead of a
Single European Sky, we have a mess of 35 air
navigation services providers. Last year there
were 21 million minutes of delays in Europe
and 12 million of those were in the air. Each
minute cost the environment 159kg of carbon
and, at today’s fuel prices, wasted $55. The
European Commission estimates the total cost
of fragmentation at 16 million tonnes of CO 2 a
year. This must change.
But there is some good news. EC vice-
president Antonio Tajani won Commission
approval for the Single European Sky Second
Package. Now Europe’s governments must
look beyond national self-interest to do what is
best for Europe and the environment.
Political leadership and vision are needed.
I challenge the French Presidency of Europe to
turn Europe’s biggest environmental
embarrassment into a success story.
A Single European Sky is only the
beginning. There are at least two other big
messes to clean up. The crumbling US air
traffic management system needs replacing
with NextGen technology, saving up to 17
million tonnes of CO 2 . Inefficient procedures
in China’s Pearl River Delta add 20 minutes to
flights arriving or departing north from Hong
Kong. Redesigning air space could save up to
340,000 tonnes of CO 2 in Hong Kong alone.
Impressive results can be achieved by
working together. Look at RVSM (reduced
vertical separation minimum). Flying aircraft
safely and closer together avoids congestion
18
In the air: governments need to fix air traffic management to reduce airlines’ carbon footprint
and costly delays. Implementing RVSM in
China last year saved 1.1 million tonnes
of CO 2 and $250m. Soon Africa and Russia will
implement RVSM saving a further 800,000
tonnes of CO 2 and $350m.
Technology can do much more if we use it.
Every Continuous Descent Approach (CDA)
we make saves between 150kg-600kg of CO 2 .
Each Clean Airspeed Departure (CAD) saves
between 600kg-5000kg of CO 2 . But progress is
slow. The dual challenges of climate change
and high fuel prices demand faster action.
The only time governments act quickly is
to line their pockets with taxes. Governments
think green and see cash. Taxes don’t cut
emissions, better operations and technology
do. Europe led the way in raising awareness
on the environment, but it is fixated on one
small part of the solution — economic
measures — focusing on punitive measures.
We don’t want handouts, but more
investment in research on alternative energy
and radical aircraft designs. Why not offer tax
credits for buying fuel-efficient aircraft? All I
see is a rush to implement economic penalties
on the industry with taxes, taxes and more
taxes. They have an environment label but do
nothing to reduce emissions.
Take the UK’s Air Passenger Duty. If the
government has its way, by 2010 it will be a
£3.5bn pot of honey for the Treasury. That is
enough to offset four years of the UK’s civil
aviation emissions. Who’s benefiting? The
Treasury. It is incredible to see that without
planting a single tree UK politicians are lost in
the woods on aviation and the environment.
It is time to re-focus. Our common objective
with governments should be to reduce
emissions not charge for them. Industry’s
four-pillar strategy is delivering results.
Governments must play their role responsibly
by taking the reality of $140 oil into account,
stopping their green grand-standing and
joining the industry’s global and
comprehensive approach.
Positive economic measures are part of the
strategy. Punitive taxes disguised as
environmental measures are not. Technology,
operations and infrastructure will be the real
drivers of innovation. No matter what the
incentive, governments need to act to fix air
traffic management, invest in research and
work towards an effective global solution on
emissions trading. It’s our responsibility to
work together so that airlines can continue to
deliver massive economic benefits while
limiting, and eventually reducing, their
carbon footprint.
Edited extracts of a speech given at the
Farnborough Air Show by Giovanni
Bisignani, director-general and chief
executive of the International Air Transport
Association
the EnGIneeR 18–31 AUGUST 2008
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.