European Parliament asks to study aid to airlines for war

Redacción - Aviación al Día

3 years ago

The European Parliament on Thursday asked the Commission to “urgently” assess the economic impact that the war in Ukraine has had on the transport sector and, in particular, on the aviation sector, in order to study the possibility of granting financial aid to this industry.

The request is part of a motion for a resolution approved in a show of hands by the Community Chamber, according to which all means of transport in the European Union (EU) have been “seriously affected” not only by the conflict in Ukraine but also by the sanctions approved by Brussels in response to the Russian invasion, EFE reported.

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In view of this situation, Parliament considers that the Commission “must support” carriers established in the Union with links to the Russian market while, say MEPs, they “redirect their operations outside Russia”.

In particular, MEPs point to the aviation sector as one of the most affected, and ask the EU executive to study its situation and, if necessary, to present a support strategy for airlines.

“It is clear that the war is having an impact, but so far it is difficult to quantify it,” warned the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, during the parliamentary debate in Strasbourg.

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“The Commission is working against the clock to mitigate the negative effects, calling for airlines to be given sufficient flexibility to withdraw war-affected operations from their slots,” Johansson added.

In the motion for a resolution backed by the European Parliament, MEPs point out that the closure of Russian and Belarusian airspace has increased the time on some routes by three to four hours, leading, they say, to higher refueling costs and longer crew hours.

“While our transport and tourism sectors are undoubtedly feeling the effects of Russian aggression, the impact is even greater for Russia. Russia’s international civil aviation connections have been drastically reduced and are closer to home,” Commissioner Johansson wielded, however.