Monthly Archives

October 2008

BARIN GAAT IN CASSATIE TEGEN DE VLIEGTAKS

By Points of view

LUCHTVAARTMAATSCHAPPIJEN IN CASSATIE TEGEN DE VLIEGTAKS`

13 October 2008

Luchtvaartmaatschappijen in Nederland, verenigd in de BARIN – Board of Airline Reperesentatives In the Netherlands, blijven strijden tegen de in hun ogen illegale vliegbelasting die de regering aan de Nederlandse luchtreiziger oplegde per 1 juli 2008. Zij gaan daarom in cassatie bij de Hoge Raad en leggen zich niet neer bij eerdere uitspraken van de rechter.

De effecten van de invoering van deze vliegtax beginnen zich namelijk duidelijk te manifesteren. Er is sprake van een forse daling van 319.000 lokaal vertrekkende passagiers vanaf Schiphol gedurende de maanden juli, augustus en september.

Op luchthavens net buiten de Nederlandse landsgrenzen zoals Brussel , Dusseldorf en Weeze steeg het aantal vertrekkende Nederlanders echter met 62%, 74% en vanaf Weeze zelfs met 300%.

Het Amsterdam Toerisme en Congres Bureau en de Kamer van Koophandel Amsterdam schatten dat de omzetdaling in de toeristische sector zeker de 285 miljoen euro zal overstijgen en verwachten een uiteindelijke economische schade van 1 miljard euro.

Staatssecretaris K. de Jager van financiën gaf zelf aan gedurende het spoeddebat in de Tweede Kamer op 26 maart 2008 dat de werkgelegenheid op en vlakbij de luchthaven vijfduizend tot tienduizend kleiner zal zijn.

Ondanks de recente toezegging van minister-president Balkenende dat er geen zogenaamde opstapeling van belastingen zal zijn wanneer er in Europa een emissiehandelsysteem van start gaat in 2012, menen de luchtvaartmaatschappijen dat de schade die tussentijds wordt toegebracht aan de industrie onrechtmatig en onaanvaardbaar is.

BNL 06 Oct.08 – BARIN e-mail NEWS LETTER

By Newsletters

6 October BARIN NEWS LETTER 2008

for members, industry colleagues, associates

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* BARIN has decided to "go into cassation" at the Dutch High Court, against the verdict of the Court of the Hague regarding BARIN’s expedite appeal against the current Ticket Tax levy by the Dutch Government. We will keep you posted.

* As from September the ADRA Working Group (BARIN and Consumentenbond) formal talks on setting up a European and National ADRA “Alternative Dispute Resolution for Aviation" ( Europeese en Nationale Geschillen Commissie Luchtvaart), chaired by SER (Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands “Coordinatiegroep Zelfreguleringsoverleg“ Prof. H. Snijders, are in process.

On 24 September a meeting took place to brief the Minister of Transport on the progress made, to enable Minister Eurlings to give the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) a perspective outlook on the developments of these talks. The working group is thriving for a positive outcome by 1 November 2008.

On 26 September a (on short notice) Extraordinary BARIN General Assembly was called to give the members an intermediate briefing, and to discuss positions to be taken on a number of issues, which still need to be agreed up on with the CoBo in the coming formal ADRA talks.

On 14 and 29 October the ADRA Working Group, consisting of the BARIN-ADRA Steering Committee (in short BASC ) members Frank Allard, Niels van Antwerpen, Jochem Croon, Bram Gräber, and Coen Waasdorp and the Consumentenbond (in short CoBo) the representatives Henk Verhagen and Bas Willigenburg, will continue their formal talks, under the SER chairmanship.

The Dutch Association of Consumer Complaints Boards (ACCB) is working on a proposal to accommodate, in a facilitating/executing role and with a European perspective, the Dutch ADRA; to be used as an adequate "blue print" for implementation in the EU member states, once the ADRA has been established in The Netherlands. In case agreement will be reached in November by the ADRA Working Group, the ACCB indicates to be ready for operation by the Summer Season in 2009.

* AAS Consultations on airport charges setting per April 2009 have taken place on 18 and 23 September. Minutes of both meetings will be placed in the AAS section of the BARIN website Members’ Room, as soon as they are available. The ACG delegates will discuss their findings on 8 October We will keep you posted.

* In September BARIN and KLM have decided to file for appeal against the verdict of the Rotterdam Court regarding the objections against the NMa approval of the AAS Cost Allocation System.

*ANVR and BARIN will have a final meeting on 22 October on the evaluation the Code of Conduct Air-Travel Offerings ( Code Reisaanbiedingen), which has been in force for over one year. The evluation findings could cause some adjustments, to be applied in the Code, after consultation with Advertising Code Authority, and with consensus of the other parties involved. Completion is to be expected within this year.

* On 6 October Dutch Prime Minister J.P. Balkenende and Minister of Transport C. Eurlings attend the Annual Schiphol Dinner in the Hotel Sheraton Amsterdam Airport, organised by the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce, on personal invitation only.

"No Stops to Sustainable Development in the Airline Industry"

"Geen rem op duurzame ontwikkeling in de luchtvaart"

By initiative of the BARIN a joint pressconference will be held on 13 October by IATA, BARIN, KLM and AAS at Schiphol Airport, making use of this campaign voicing their standpoints in relation tothis important topic, and the contrasting escalating measures the Dutch Government is taking regarding the "piling" of extra charges and taxes in connection with airtransportation to and from The Netherlands.

IATA Director General & CEO Giovanni Bisignani will give a briefing on the latest world wide developments on sustainable aviation.

From a Dutch perspective KLM President & CEO Peter Hartman, BARIN Chairman Huib Gorter, and Schiphol Group Executive Vice President & CCO Maarten de Groof will address a number of relevant issues in this context.

BARIN, in cooperation with IATA and the Schiphol Group, has been instrumental in getting the IATA Airport Environment Campaign Stand on display in The Netherlands. In the AAS Departure Lounge 3 this Environment Stand will be officially opened by the IATA Director General Mr. Bisignani as part of this press gathering, and can be visited by the air travelling public for a period of two months. The stand has at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol its first appearance in Europe, after having been on display during the IATA Annual General Meeting last June at Istanbul airport.

A short description of the IATA airport stand:

The aim of the project is to explain to the general public that our industry is responsible for 2% of global CO2 emissions; that we are taking positive steps to limit these emissions in the short to medium term; and that our long term vision is to create a ‘zero emissions’ industry.

The stands consist of two curved, opposing panels forming a ‘tunnel’, suggestive of an aircraft engine. The visitor is guided on a remarkable journey from the inception of powered flight to the present day. This journey illustrates the key elements of IATA’s four-pillar strategy on the environment – focussing on technology, operations and infrastructure. Our journey extends to the future, exploring new technologies such as algae-based bio fuels, solar power and fuel cells that could provide the building blocks for developing a carbon emission-free plane in the next 50 years.

The stands are 3 metres by 6 metres and are 2.1 metres high. The base language is English along with Dutch language that is changed for the AAS location. This includes Dutch language subtitling on the films.

The stands employ user-friendly interactive technology. Touch-screens and interactive models explore and explain issues such as alternative fuel sources, revolutionary concepts in airframe and engine design, the shortening of routes and operational improvements in the airline industry.

The technology also allows us to record visitor numbers and to gauge the degree of their approval or otherwise.

Monitors are installed in the stand on which two short films are screened, explaining the emotional and rational arguments in favour of air travel.

The stand includes “Destination Zero” – essentially, ‘the film of the stand’ – which is also available in various edits for use on-line or on in-flight media. The stands are supported by some advertising in Dutch daily newspapers that reflects the same themes and is complementary to a seven in-flight magazines advertisements.

Press Review per 6 November 2008

Update latest press clippings and publications on the www.barin.nl homepage, button "Publications".

· ’Concurrentiepositie in gevaar als groei uitblijft’ – Topbedrijven willen klaarheid Schiphol

· Reisbranche domineert webwinkel top-tien
· Overzicht van de jarenlange strijd om Schiphol vanaf 1916
· ELFAA holds its 5th Annual General Meeting in Charleroi
· Greece seeks buyers for Olympic
· Airtrade in actie tegen transavia.com
· EU-US talks center on foreign ownership, cabotage
· Nederlanders ontwijken vliegtaks – Vliegvelden in België en Duitsland zien een toename van het aantal Nederlanders.
· VLM zet de puntjes op de “i” inzake de ecologische impact van de luchtvaart
· Voor het eerst miljoenste passagier op Weeze
· Olympic Airlines will be shut down and restarted as Pantheon Airways
· European consolidation continues; Lufthansa to take over Brussels Airlines
· Boeing: Biofuel research pace ‘remarkable,’ could partially power flights by 2013
· EasyJet roept Balkenende op alle passagiers gelijk te behandelen
· Rechter wijst opschorting van betaling aan Alitalia af
· EC to take closer look at Martinair takeover by AF KLM
· AF KLM seeks to ‘be present’ in consolidation, eyes stakes in Austrian, Alitalia
· IATA, EUROCONTROL and CANSO Commit to Efficiency Plan
· Brussel wil overname Martinair door KLM verder onderzoeken
· ANVR eist opschorting betalingen aan Alitalia
· DOLLE KERMIS
· IATA predicts bleak times
· Branson Eyes London Gatwick Airport

P.S. Mid September the BARIN Executive Office has been out of e-mail reach due to some electronic network disturbances. We managed to retrieve a fair amount of email traffic addressed to BARIN, but not all. In case you have send emails to us around that period and did not receive a requested reaction, please be so kind to send your message once again. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

We invite BNL readers’ contribution , by sending reactions, comments, and/or points of view , we could publish in a special column called POV (Points Of View). Send your reactions or POV’s to: office@barin.nl

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Contact BARIN Phone +31 (0) 235267207 Fax +31 (0) 235265811 Email office@barin.nl Websites www.barin.nl www.ikverticket.nl

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