Air transport: Commission welcomes agreement on Siberian overflights
Currently, EU air carriers are obliged to pay for flying over Siberia on flights to destinations in Asia. It is estimated that these payments cost around €320 million per year – most of it going directly to Aeroflot. The EU has long been concerned that these payments are in breach of both EU antitrust law and international law (Chicago Convention). Moreover, they drive up airline costs unfairly, making air tickets from Europe to destinations in Asia more expensive and distorting competition between airlines on these markets. They also create an additional burden on trade relations between the EU and Asia.
The basis for today’s agreement was prepared in 2006, based on a set of “Agreed Principles”, but will only now enter into force.
Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas highlights the importance of this break-through in EU-Russia aviation relations: “Siberian overflight royalties have for decades been the single most important obstacle for further developing EU-Russia aviation relations to the detriment of airlines and passengers. Today’s agreement is therefore a very important milestone towards strengthening closer cooperation in many areas of aviation. Igor Levitin, the Russian Minister of Transport and I agreed on this during the recent EU-Russia Aviation Summit in St. Petersburg and we have worked very closely with the Polish Presidency to finalise the agreement. This agreement clearly reflects the positive spirit of St. Petersburg! We now look forward to its swift implementation.”
Commissioner Karel De Gucht underlines the importance of this agreement for Russia’s WTO-accession: “The clear commitment we received from Russia to make charges for flying over Siberia cost-related, transparent and non-discriminatory helped pave the way for the EU to support Russia’s accession to the WTO. Both of these developments are very good news.”
Next steps
Russia and EU Member States have until 1 July 2012 to modify their bilateral Air Services Agreements in order to fully implement the “Agreed Principles”.
For more information on EU-Russia aviation relations:
MEMO/11/695
MEMO/11/167
Source: European Commission