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DG MOVE workshop on the impact of COVID-19 on aviation

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Steer presentation.pdf

DG MOVE workshop on the impact of COVID-19 on aviation

5 April 2022: Steer, the consultancy commissioned by DG MOVE to assess the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on aviation, invited all stakeholders who participated in the survey to a workshop to present their first findings.

More than an overview of COVID-19's impact on aviation, the workshop was an opportunity to present to all stakeholders the next regulatory programme from DG MOVE. Resilience is added as a third key objective towards transition for the European Commission, together with the Green deal and digitalisation.

The main topics discussed have been on the table for years: revision of the airport charges directive, slots, air services and market access (revision of 1008/2008). This exercise will feed in the recently-launched consultation on the revision of 1008/2008, as well as upcoming regulatory reviews.

The connectivity issue is linked to airport capacity, and ERA came back to DG MOVE and Steer to stress other elements such as regional connectivity objectives, access rules at airports (slots and charges) or operational specificities for regional and feeder flights.

In a complementary paper ERA submitted after the workshop, we responded on the need to review the PSO rules and EU261 – which proved totally unfit for purpose during the crisis, the pricing model of ATC charges, or some disruptive effects on market access and fair competition of intra-EU stated aid measures.

Another issue raised and somewhat ignored in the consultant’s work is the need for stronger co-ordination on EU travel rules instead of a patchwork of restrictions in case of a future crisis.

Steer will fine tune its report by May 2022 and foresees to:

  • Include 2021 traffic and actuals as they become available to update the baseline.
  • Further refine inputs and ensure reconciliation with actuals.
  • Finalise passenger projections.
  • Extend outputs to include the impact of debt on stakeholders.
  • include the impact of any potential identified changes to regulatory acquis as the study progresses.

The presentation from the meeting is available for members to download from the top of this page.