easyJet hails Aviation White Paper as step in the right direction
easyJet has welcomed the UK Government's decision to provide for a second
runway at London Stansted Airport, announced today by Alistair Darling,
Secretary of State for Transport.

It is encouraging that the Government has put forward a far-sighted agenda
which strikes the right balance between enabling the sustainable growth of
UK aviation and meeting the industry's environmental responsibilities.
easyJet congratulated the Government for paving the way towards an aviation
emissions trading scheme, which will provide the most efficient incentives
for the industry to ultimately reduce its environmental impact.

easyJet also congratulated the Government for its recognition that Air
Passenger Duty (APD) is an inappropriate way of mitigating the environmental
impact of aviation. However, easyJet believes now is the time for the
Government to address the distortions in the current APD regime. The airline
has long argued that APD, like almost all other taxes, should be related to
the fare paid, rather than the current flat rate (£5 per passenger for
flights to the UK and continental European destinations), which
discriminates against airlines offering low-fares and provides no incentive
for the aviation industry to take steps to reduce its environmental impact.
We are encouraged that the Secretary of State has committed to introduce
differential charges to reward airlines that operate the cleanest and
quietest aircraft.

Ray Webster, easyJet Chief Executive, said:

"Of all the places where a new runway could have gone in the near-term in
the South East of England, Stansted is the most obvious choice. It is the
airport that has been identified for long-term expansion and will avoid the
constraints particular to Heathrow Airport.

"Providing the funding of the new infrastructure comes from those who are
going to use it, without cross-subsidisation from other users or airports,
this should be welcomed by all parts of the industry.

"The Government is right not to expand Heathrow at this current time. Rather
than laying concrete, the Government should be doing everything it can to
eliminate the 40% of all Heathrow slots that are used for connecting
short-haul to long-haul services.

"Customers are already voting with their feet and moving away from Heathrow
for short-haul point-to-point travel in favour of low-cost airlines at more
efficient airports. Beyond that, the European Commission is currently
negotiating 'open skies' agreements with a number of countries which should
result in a growth in the number of long-haul point-to-point services and a
reduction in wasteful and unnecessary connecting services.

"This could result in a dramatic change in how Heathrow is used over the
coming years. In due course, it may become apparent that additional runways
are not actually needed."

On the issue of changes to the tax regime of the industry, Ray said:

"In our view, instead of having a blanket rate, APD should be proportional
to the fare paid by the passenger. This would be a first step towards making
APD a more efficient tax - for some passengers, this should mean a decrease
in the amount of tax paid for a particular journey. I just don't think we
should be penalised for offering our customers great fares.

"It should also be noted that, at the current flat rate of £5, APD already
represents a tax rate of over 110% on the fuel used on easyJet's domestic
air journeys - no other form of transport, including cars, pays that
proportion of tax on its fuel.

"easyJet has long argued that APD should also be hypothecated to make it a
real environmental tax. This would be along the lines of the polluter-pays
principle whereby dirtier carriers are penalised whilst providing incentives
for the cleaner and quieter ones. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that more
can be done to improve the industry's environmental performance. Going
forward, easyJet wholeheartedly supports any concrete moves towards
facilitating an emissions trading scheme for the industry. This is something
we have called for and will continue to push at the UK and EU level. easyJet
has always been prepared to pay for its environmental costs. We already
operate one of the youngest and most modern fleet in the world. This,
coupled with our high passenger loads, means that our noise and fuel
emissions levels are significantly better than most airlines."

OOOPS WRONG NEWSGROUP
SORRY

"The Equalizer" wrote in message
...
easyJet hails Aviation White Paper as step in the right direction
easyJet has welcomed the UK Government's decision to provide for a second
runway at London Stansted Airport, announced today by Alistair Darling,
Secretary of State for Transport.

It is encouraging that the Government has put forward a far-sighted agenda
which strikes the right balance between enabling the sustainable growth of
UK aviation and meeting the industry's environmental responsibilities.
easyJet congratulated the Government for paving the way towards an
aviation
emissions trading scheme, which will provide the most efficient incentives
for the industry to ultimately reduce its environmental impact.

easyJet also congratulated the Government for its recognition that Air
Passenger Duty (APD) is an inappropriate way of mitigating the
environmental
impact of aviation. However, easyJet believes now is the time for the
Government to address the distortions in the current APD regime. The
airline
has long argued that APD, like almost all other taxes, should be related
to
the fare paid, rather than the current flat rate (£5 per passenger for
flights to the UK and continental European destinations), which
discriminates against airlines offering low-fares and provides no
incentive
for the aviation industry to take steps to reduce its environmental
impact.
We are encouraged that the Secretary of State has committed to introduce
differential charges to reward airlines that operate the cleanest and
quietest aircraft.

Ray Webster, easyJet Chief Executive, said:

"Of all the places where a new runway could have gone in the near-term in
the South East of England, Stansted is the most obvious choice. It is the
airport that has been identified for long-term expansion and will avoid
the
constraints particular to Heathrow Airport.

"Providing the funding of the new infrastructure comes from those who are
going to use it, without cross-subsidisation from other users or airports,
this should be welcomed by all parts of the industry.

"The Government is right not to expand Heathrow at this current time.
Rather
than laying concrete, the Government should be doing everything it can to
eliminate the 40% of all Heathrow slots that are used for connecting
short-haul to long-haul services.

"Customers are already voting with their feet and moving away from
Heathrow
for short-haul point-to-point travel in favour of low-cost airlines at
more
efficient airports. Beyond that, the European Commission is currently
negotiating 'open skies' agreements with a number of countries which
should
result in a growth in the number of long-haul point-to-point services and
a
reduction in wasteful and unnecessary connecting services.

"This could result in a dramatic change in how Heathrow is used over the
coming years. In due course, it may become apparent that additional
runways
are not actually needed."

On the issue of changes to the tax regime of the industry, Ray said:

"In our view, instead of having a blanket rate, APD should be proportional
to the fare paid by the passenger. This would be a first step towards
making
APD a more efficient tax - for some passengers, this should mean a
decrease
in the amount of tax paid for a particular journey. I just don't think we
should be penalised for offering our customers great fares.

"It should also be noted that, at the current flat rate of £5, APD already
represents a tax rate of over 110% on the fuel used on easyJet's domestic
air journeys - no other form of transport, including cars, pays that
proportion of tax on its fuel.

"easyJet has long argued that APD should also be hypothecated to make it a
real environmental tax. This would be along the lines of the polluter-pays
principle whereby dirtier carriers are penalised whilst providing
incentives
for the cleaner and quieter ones. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that more
can be done to improve the industry's environmental performance. Going
forward, easyJet wholeheartedly supports any concrete moves towards
facilitating an emissions trading scheme for the industry. This is
something
we have called for and will continue to push at the UK and EU level.
easyJet
has always been prepared to pay for its environmental costs. We already
operate one of the youngest and most modern fleet in the world. This,
coupled with our high passenger loads, means that our noise and fuel
emissions levels are significantly better than most airlines."

"The Equalizer" wrote in message
...

OOOPS WRONG NEWSGROUP
SORRY

No need to be - I reckon this counts as a London-ish transport issue.

Ian