In a strongly worded statement a group of organisations involved in air transport have noted that they will not accept any proposal on emissions trading without comprehensive business impact assessments being undertaken.
ERA director general Mike Ambrose spoke on behalf of his, and six other organisations: "Aviation has a significant role to play in achieving the economic development, social cohesion and mobility that European citizens aspire to, particularly those in the new EU member states. While the industry is committed to pursuing every effort to minimize its environmental impact through research, technological and operational measures, it is unreasonable for it to accept any ETS that has not been rigorously assessed for its impact both on business and on the environment."
Ambrose continued: "The development of badly-designed ETS risks add significant costs to the airline industry without achieving any real environmental benefits. Great care will be needed to design a scheme that will definitely deliver genuine environmental benefits at bearable costs."
In addition to ERA, the other associations are: the Association of European Airlines (AEA); the European Low Fare Airlines Association (ELFAA); the International Air Carrier Association (IACA); the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD); the European Cargo Alliance and the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA).