About AIRE

Committees

Council on Aeropolitical Affairs (CAPA)
The Council for Aeropolitical Affairs monitors all regulatory developments affecting AIRE airline members – environmental matters, consumer rights, infrastructure, traffic rights, immigration, taxation and social issues.

Aeropolitical

How do we work?

Council for Aeropolitical Affairs (CAPA)
The objective of the Council for Aeropolitical Affairs is to ensure that the airline members are kept fully informed of all developments concerning aeropolitical regulations and procedures. The CAPA monitors the activities of national and international regulatory authorities, in particular the European institutions. The success of the Council for Aeropolitical Affairs centres upon our ability to alert members of potential developments at an early stage and our experience in influencing the decision-making process.

The work of the CAPA follows three phases: monitoring, informing and influencing. Aeropolitical issues are monitored on a day-to-day basis ensuring that the airline members receive the most up-to-date and reliable information. The impact of proposed legislation on carriers is analysed, enabling members to develop a common position on key political issues. This common position allows the Association to promote the interests of the members in the political and aviation arena.

What kind of topics do we address?

• EU Emissions Trading Scheme; ICAO Global Market Based Measure (CORSIA)
• Single European Sky (SES) / SESAR deployment
• Airport charges (including charges for security and for Passengers with Reduced Mobility)
• Slot Allocation Rules
• Passenger Rights
• Immigration and border control issues
• EU External Aviation Relations (trafficrights)
• Insurance Requirements

What is of interest for non-EU members?
Non-EU carriers are impacted by EU legislation for their flights operating to/from the European Union and non-EU countries that have adopted EU rules in their national laws. Therefore they should be informed about the legislation-making process for European aviation rules and be part of the influencing effort towards the EU legislative bodies.
Non-EU members are in particularly impacted by EU legislation concerning

• EU Emissions Trading Scheme; ICAO Global Market Based Measure (CORSIA)
• Single European Sky (SES) / the financial aspect of SESAR deployment (reduction of ATC charges)
• Airport charges (including charges for security and for Passengers with Reduced Mobility)
• Slot Allocation Rules
• Passenger Rights
• Immigration and border control issues

Safety & Operations

How do we work internally?

The establishment of the Single European Sky (SES) and the deployment of SESAR require a multi-disciplinary approach: airlines determine which routes they wish to operate and then equip the aircraft to provide for the required communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) capability on that route. Due to the multi-disciplinary character, the Secretariat informs and consults with the CAFO (route development and flight planning) and the SSC (engineering & certification of avionics).

On a need basis, the Secretariat organises WebEx meetings or Video conferencing with large aircraft manufacturers on retrofit solutions.

How do we work externally?

IATA Joint Users Requirements Group (JURG)
The Secretariat brings specific members’ operational requirements issues to the JURG meetings and debriefs the SSC and CAFO committees.

ICAO North Atlantic Implementation Management Group (NAT IMG)
The Secretariat’s observer status at ICAO meetings enabled the escalation of operational constraints related to the discrepant avionics requirements between Europe and ICAO to find a solution for the ICAO Tango routes that are frequently used by airlines flying to the Canary Islands and Azores.

SESAR Deployment Manager (SDM)
The Secretariat participates to the SDM Stakeholders Consultation Platform and its Thematic Subgroups to continuously monitor and update the SESAR Deployment Plan. The Secretariat participates to workshop organised by the SDM and informs the members on the yearly CEF calls for co-funding SES investment projects.

What kind of topics do we address?

• SESAR deployment
• Navigation strategy and Performance Based Navigation (PBN)
• Communication strategy and Data Link Services (DLS)
• Surveillance strategy and automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B)
• Aircraft flight tracking systems

What is of interest for non-EU members?

• Single European Sky CNS Implementation Strategy

Task Forces Working Groups

Airport Slot Task Force
The objective is to ensure that members are fully aware of the regulations, procedures and recommended practices concerning scheduling and slot issues, from national and international regulatory authorities. The task force monitors current allocation of slots in European airports as well as other hubs outside of the EU. The task force members exchange views and best practices with respect to scheduling issues including developments in slot auctioning and night bans. The Secretariat informs and consults members electronically.

Sustainability Task Force
The purpose of this Task Force is to inform members on ongoing debates and issues surrounding the climate goals of the European Union. The Task Force provides insight into possible effects of the environmental regulations and policies on functioning of airlines, ATM and ground operations.

Passenger Rights Task Force
AIRE supports soonest revision of the active EU Regulation No 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights. The Task Force’s purpose is to create the platform for the members to exchange their experiences and views on the application of the European rules on passenger rights. The Task Force analyse latest decisions of the ECJ as well as those of domestic courts of the EU members states. The discussions also include rights of passengers with reduced mobility, package travel issues and other matters.

EASA Task Force
This Task Force is intended to provide information on any issues related to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). As one of EASA’s main tasks is the drafting of aviation safety regulation and the provision of technical advice to the European Commission and Member States, AIRE considers it essential to have a specific working team to deal with this body.

Social Media, Communication, PR and Marketing

The main objective of this Task Force is to develop the communication strategy to be followed by the association. Thus, during these meetings, aspects such as the updating of AIRE’s different social networks (LinkedIn and Twitter), as well as the approach to be followed when promoting the association in the media, are specified.