IATA Economies ..Pray for MH370 and the safety of the passenger..Executive Development PartnerIn cooperation with:EU–ASEAN: Aviation Summit» Reports24/02/2014Singapore hosted the European Union – Association of Southeast Asian Nations Aviation Summit 2014 from 11 to 12 of February 2014. Both sides jointly organized the EU – ASEAN Summit in order to bring together aviation professionals from EU and ASEAN to cooperate and share their views on a deeper and closer relation in the aviation sector between these two regions of the world. During this successful two day summit a lot of interesting ideas were shared in various topics as:Session 1: Single Aviation Markets - EU and ASEAN Experiences in Integrating Markets, Removing Barriers and Regulating Air TransportSession 2: Market Outlook and Business Opportunities in the ASEAN, EU and the ASEAN-EU Aviation MarketsSession 3: Aviation Safety – Regulation and Potential for CooperationSession 4: Air Traffic Management – Challenges and OpportunitiesClosing Session: Prospects for Further EU-ASEAN Co-operation In the Official Welcome and opening Session Mr, Siim Kallas, Vice President and Commissioner for Transport of the European Commission said about the cooperation of Europe with Southeast Asia: If Europe works together with ASEAN to the fullest extent, we can extend the proven benefits of our respective single aviation markets to a much larger inter-regional one. The Summit has created much new momentum for closer cooperation and made a convincing case for embarking on what could be a first aviation agreement in the world between two important blocs of countries like the EU and ASEAN. Mr Sommad Pholsena, Minister of Public Works and Transport of Lao PDR commented on the same topic: While ASEAN and the EU already have much in common in aviation, including their commitment to establishing Single Aviation Markets in their respective regions, both sides stand to benefit significantly from even closer cooperation. Apart from allowing both sides to better capitalize on the opportunities in and the capabilities of each other, a bloc-to-bloc agreement would also facilitate further intra-ASEAN integration by allowing ASEAN to learn from the EU’s experience in developing a Single Aviation Market since the 1990s. Moving on the Session 1 there was a panel discussion about the impact of liberalization within EU and the prospects for an EU – ASEAN Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement. Mr. Tony Tyler, Director General of IATA said: “When we are talking about markets, air transport is unique in its bilateral approach to allocating traffic rights. Europe’s Single Aviation Market delivers tremendous value to European integration. And the ASEAN liberalization plans have similar potential. That potential will only be realized if states implement what they have committed to do.On liberalization in general, I don’t believe that there is any appetite amongst governments for a big-bang shift to global liberalization. But initiatives such as the one being pursued in ASEAN are the building blocks for the industry’s future shape and form. And we support this fully in this effort.As the rules for ASEAN’s single market are being developed I hope that governments will keep in mind the need for harmonized regulations, industry consultation, respect for global standards, support for global solutions and provision of sufficient capacity to meet the thirst for growing connectivity.” Later on Session 2 in another panel discussion different EU - ASEAN Opportunities and Issues were discussed. All of the speakers agreed that the Asia - Pacific region is growing very fast and is becoming a great economic power in the aviation sector. Mr. Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad Abdul Majid, Managing Director of Malaysia Airports, welcomed all the European Airlines to increase their frequencies in the airports. Mr. Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe, stated how Liberalization is going to lead to : airline competition, route development, airport competition, dynamic market structure and finally to increased economic benefits. In Session 3 the topics discussed were: To what extent is technical regulatory convergence necessary in support of market integration and what are the challenges and benefits of this. Mr. Dihn Viet Thang, Deputy Director General of the Civil Aviation Administration of Viet Nam, talked about harmonization of regulatory between EU and ASEAN. He believes that a common and coordinated approach is essential and proposed to conduct a common regulation up to 2020. Further on, on Session 4, capacity, safety and performance challenges in airports and cross-border air traffic management were discussed in another panel discussion moderated by Mr. Daniel Weder, CEO of Skyguide. Mr. Yap Ong Heng, Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, said about the current challenges: “Unprecedented pace of air traffic growth in this region is leading to stresses on the aviation system. With demand outstripping supply, many airports in this region are running out of slots for growth or experiencing rising air traffic congestions that inconvenience travellers and incur costs not just for airlines but also the economies and, ultimately the environment. In addressing this mismatch of demand and supply, States, ANSPs, and operators face many challenges: too late or too little investment in infrastructure; insufficient trained and qualified professionals; insufficient coordinated efforts; or processes that have not kept up with changes in the aviation landscape, etc. A key stumbling block to resolving these challenges lies in the way we view them. Airports are associated with passenger terminals, aprons, manoeuvring areas and runways. Basically everything related to movements and activities on the ground. Air traffic flow and management are invariably associated with airborne traffic and assigned to the purview of ANSPs. The two are viewed as separate domains rather than a closely inter-twined aviation system where one part flows into another, and a problem in one sector could be the result of an occurrence in another.” Concluding, in the Closing Session of the two day summit Mr. Siim Kallas together with Mr. Sommad Pholsena and Mr. Le Luong Minh, Secretary General of ASEAN, agreed that the it was a very successful summit that exceeded the expectations and its end mark a beginning of an interesting story that will give more possibilities to the passengers and bring together Europe and Southeast Asia. Send th
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 05:13:54 +0000
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