The House Aviation Subcommittee is holding a hearing today on the environmental impact of aviation, especially emissions. I won’t be able to cover the entire session, but I’ll give you what I can.
Representative Jerry Costello (D-Ill.) offers his opening statement. He emphasizes that the need to reduce emissions is a corollary of the need to [...]
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As expected, the British Competition Commission released its interim report on competitive effects of BAA’s ownership of several UK airports (accounting for more than 60 percent of UK travelers), including most of the capacity in greater London and lowland Scotland. The conclusion?
The CC is inclined to the view that common ownership of the BAA airports [...]
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With Silvio Berlusconi’s expected victory in this week’s elections, Air France-KLM is “poised to walk away from a deal” to acquire failing and flailing state airline Alitalia, reports the Telegraph. Berlusconi has expressed his hostility to the proposed deal, already on the rocks due to union opposition, calling it “unacceptable and, indeed, offensive for our [...]
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My article about the Alitalia privatization debacle — and how it’s being complicated by next week’s elections in Italy — is now up at Forbes.com.
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The Internet is abuzz about the latest example of “eco- scandalous” airline behavior. An American Airlines flight from Chicago to London flew February 9 with only five passengers, using — reportedly — 22,000 gallons of Jet A. Why is this causing an uproar? The advocacy group Friends of the Earth considers it an “obscene waste [...]
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Air traffic control commercialization can change the incentives in the ATC system, Eugene Hoeven (pictured at right) said during a panel discussion last Wednesday, leading to dramatic improvements in the industry. Hoeven, the director for ICAO affairs of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO), the trade association for air naviation service providers (ANSP), spoke [...]
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Posted in Evan's Fiskings, tagged airports, europe on February 13, 2008 | 2 Comments »
If you build it, they will come.
This sort of wishful thinking too often infects policymakers seeking to improve and expand air travel systems. Sometimes, unfortunately, they choose the most expensive option: building an entirely new airport. As I’ve written earlier, this does not happen very often (at least not in developed countries, but check out [...]
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The Guardian reports that the U.S. government is circulating a memo and beginning negotiations in Europe to intensify security measures:
Airlines would be required to give passengers’ personal data to the Transportation Security Administration even for flights merely overflying the United States.
Travelers from countries in Europe for which the United States waives visas would be required [...]
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I’d like to plug an upcoming conference that Jurgen Reinhoudt, a colleague of mine at the American Enterprise Institute, is helping to organize. Speakers at the February 20 event will address ways in which Western European economies, often thought to be stagnant and hidebound, are implementing effective market-based reforms in areas like pensions, energy, and [...]
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Ryanair, long known for its saucy and subversive ads, is in hot water over an ad featuring French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his lady love, Carla Bruni. With rumors of their engagement swirling around Paris, the ad shows Bruni musing at Ryanair’s low fares: “With Ryanair, my whole family will be able to come to [...]
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