newstodate.aero
Aug 31, 2011 (newstodate): When top-level politicians and bureaucrats from the EU Commission and Russia meet for another EU-Russia Aviation Summit 2011 in St Petersburg, October 12-13, the issue of Russia's overflight navigation charges remains between the lines.
-There are indeed still discussions on this topic, and it remains a crucial issue, says Klaus Winkler, European Commission Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, Unit E.1: Internal Market, Air Transport Agreements and Multilateral Relations.
-It is true that the two parties agreed in 2006 on a solution to the problem, with the charges to be fully abolished by 2013 after a preceding process of phased scaling-down.
-The Russian party, however, never signed the protocol, and in the meantime much time has passed, and many new technical issues now remain to be clarified.
-The EU Commission has certainly not retreated on its position, and it is well-known that this issue has been coupled to Russia's request for admission into the World Trade Organization, WTO. So maybe the discussions and negotiations on these two issues now coincide, says Mr Winkler.
Which leaves industry observers rather puzzled about whether Russia will eventually stick to the agreement on 2006 and fully abolish the levying of overflight charges on commercial airlines by 2013, or.....?
At least the issue is not singled out as a specific topic on the announced agenda of the forthcoming summit.
-There are indeed still discussions on this topic, and it remains a crucial issue, says Klaus Winkler, European Commission Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, Unit E.1: Internal Market, Air Transport Agreements and Multilateral Relations.
-It is true that the two parties agreed in 2006 on a solution to the problem, with the charges to be fully abolished by 2013 after a preceding process of phased scaling-down.
-The Russian party, however, never signed the protocol, and in the meantime much time has passed, and many new technical issues now remain to be clarified.
-The EU Commission has certainly not retreated on its position, and it is well-known that this issue has been coupled to Russia's request for admission into the World Trade Organization, WTO. So maybe the discussions and negotiations on these two issues now coincide, says Mr Winkler.
Which leaves industry observers rather puzzled about whether Russia will eventually stick to the agreement on 2006 and fully abolish the levying of overflight charges on commercial airlines by 2013, or.....?
At least the issue is not singled out as a specific topic on the announced agenda of the forthcoming summit.