Sukhoi to Sell 1,800 Aircraft in 20 Years
A month after it rolled out its first commercial airliner, Sukhoi said it expects to sell 1,800 midsize, 95-seat Superjets in the next 20 years. ''This is not purely a Russian product”, Vice President Sales Svetlana Issaeva told the Associated Press during the European Regions Airlines Association (ERA) conference in Athens. “It's an international product ... The partnership with international companies obviously gives credibility to the project itself and for after-sales support. No one in the world — neither Boeing nor Airbus — can go it alone. Russia is no different. This is probably why we are different from other Russian manufacturers who probably think they can still carry on as they did 20-30 years ago.'' Related Story
AP also interviewed Alessandro Franzoni, CEO of the Italy-based joint venture Superjet International, who said two-thirds of customers will be outside the home market. He planned to sell 1,200 planes by 2028 and a further 600 modified versions including a model for business travelers. ''It has Russian aerodynamics, which is excellent ... but it also has a lot of western technology. The engine is a result of French-Russian cooperation, the avionics is French, flight control is German, and the landing gear is French,'' Franzoni told the AP.

Simigdalas Retains Seat
Antonis Simigdalas, COO of Aegean Airlines, has been re-elected president of the ERA for a second term. Simigdalas was voted in by members at the AGM in Athens last week, during the annual ERA General Assembly. Per Arne Watle, CEO of Widerǿe Flyveselskap was also elected for a second term as vice president. In the Associate II category (Suppliers), Todd Freeman, SVP & Manager of Regional Jet Programs, GECAS, was also re-elected for a second three-year term. Roland Hermann, CEO of Salzburg Airport was elected in the Associate III (Airport) category, replacing Jon Horne who resigned from Cardiff Airport this month.
For the first time this year, two new members were elected in the Affiliate I (airlines outside the ECAC area, or non-scheduled carriers within the ECAC area) and Affiliate II (supplier) categories which previously did not have voting rights within the association. Alexander Kanishchev, chair, Aeroflot-Nord was elected in the Affiliate I category, while Olaf Dlugi of OD Consulting was elected in the Affiliate II category.

ERA Passes Resolutions for Better Law-Making
ERA members agreed there is a need for better law-making procedures, especially with respect to including economic assessments to proposed regulations. It pointed to the European emissions trading regime for air transport and called on MEPs to reject the recent amendments proposed by the Environment Committee (ENVI) which, according to the association, would add €20 billion per year to the costs of European air transport. Related Story
The organization also wants many of the amendments proposed by the Transport and Tourism Committee, which it says will improve the practical procedures to implement the European Commission’s original proposal, to be accepted. Related Story
While the Transport and Tourism Committee’s amendments were consistent with an independent impact assessment of the effects of emissions trading on European air transport, the effects of ENVI’s proposed amendments were not evaluated, a fact which the association says displays unacceptable inconsistency in European law-making procedures.
“MEPs are not experts in the operational intricacies and complexities of the industries on which they are required to regulate, nor should they be,” said ERA Director General Mike Ambrose. “This is why impact assessments are a vital part of the regulatory process. However, to have one Parliamentary Committee base its amendments on an impact assessment, which is then ignored by another committee, creates a lack of confidence in the entire regulatory process, not to mention the impact on jobs and livelihoods of the citizens affected by such inconsistent approaches.”
In September 2006, ERA published a “Step-by-Step Guide to Better Regulation” which was adopted by the European Commission’s High Level Group in their report on future approaches to the regulation of the European air transport industry, published in June.
In the second Resolution agreed at the AGM, ERA calls upon the European Parliament to adhere to these principles, to ensure that the impact of any significant amendments are fully understood and are transparent through the publication of an independent regulatory impact assessment and to reject all significant amendments proposed by Members or Committees which are not accompanied by a regulatory impact assessment or where the regulatory impact assessment shows that the costs exceed the benefits.

Honors Awarded at ERA
Aegean Airlines became the third airline to receive the ERA Palme d’Or honor for sustained excellence. Theodoros Vassilakis, president of Aegean Airlines was presented with the trophy by Director General Mike Ambrose.
Introduced in 2004, the Palme d’Or is a special distinction designed to recognise sustained excellence over a number of years for ERA airlines and airports. Air Nostrum of Spain, Aer Arann of Ireland and London City Airport are the only other holders of the ERA Palme d’Or.
Aegean Airlines enjoys a leading domestic position in Greece with a growing presence in international scheduled routes to destinations in European and neighboring countries. Aegean Airlines is also a Lufthansa partner. In 2006, Aegean Airlines achieved a turnover of €401 million with pre-tax profits of €34.4 million and carried 4.45m passengers.

Fritz Feitl, senior industry consultant and recent chair of the Industry Consultation Body which advises the European Commission on the Single European Sky project, was presented with the Director General’s Commendation for Services to the Industry, and in particular for his outstanding work related to the delivery of the Single European Sky.

Air Nostrum was named the winner of the ERA Airline of the Year 2007/8 GOLD Award for the fourth time. Judges singled out Air Nostrum’s innovative financing arrangement that enabled it to add 10 Bombardier CRJ 900s to its fleet within a seven-month period. The satellite navigation trials undertaken as part of the GIANT project also impressed the judges as a project with potentially great operational benefits for the industry. The airline carries 5.2m passengers a year on a mixed turboprop and jet fleet of ATR 72, Dash-8, CRJ200 and CRJ900 aircraft.

The Silver Award went to Tyrolean Airways of Austria while the Bronze Award was won by Irish carrier CityJet. Silver winner Tyrolean was commended by the judges for its innovative technical and operational achievements as well as for the achievement of a scope clause arrangement with Austrian Airlines, allowing Tyrolean the operation of all aircraft up to 110 seats. CEO Manfred Helldoppler accepted the trophy.
According to the judges, Bronze winner CityJet “has undergone a real revolution within just one year.” A complete fleet rollover and a repositioning of the airline onto London City Airport, sees the carrier firmly placed for future expansion. CEO Geoffrey O’Bryne White received the Award.

A proactive and responsible approach to environmental issues, allowing the achievement of a balance between airport growth and care for the environment, has won Munich the Airport Achievement Award 2007/8.
“One of the biggest challenges faced by European airports today is how to balance growth in air traffic with a reduction in the environmental impact of air travel,” said the panel which made the award. “Munich Airport has set clear and well-structured environmental objectives with measurable targets. This balanced approach has enabled Munich Airport to achieve sustainable growth and successfully serve society’s mobility needs while at the same time protecting the environment and preserving natural resources.”
Munich set a target of cutting CO2 by more than 70,000 tons a year by 2010 through various environmental programs and initiatives. Through the purchase of raw materials from surrounding farms, the airport has already converted 400 diesel airport vehicles to grapeseed oil vehicles, supporting local business and achieving substantial cost savings for the airport. Other environmental initiatives have been undertaken in the areas of aircraft de-icing, hydrogen-powered vehicles (including the world’s first public hydrogen filling station) and continual bio-monitoring of the airport’s impact on the surrounding area.
Munich Airport handled 30.8m passengers in 2006 and is the second largest airport in Germany behind Frankfurt. Thirty four percent of all departing passengers at Munich are transfer passengers while 52 percent travel on business.