The Transport and Tourism Committee in the European Parliament rejected further liberalisation of ground-handling services as proposed in a draft legislation by the European Commission. Many MEPs feared that the proposal would lead to a deterioration of working conditions and safety and deplored the lack of evidence that the regulation would increase the overall efficiency of ground-handling operations.

MEPs rejected the Commission’s proposal to boost competition to supply ground-handling services at major EU airports in a meeting held by the Transport and Tourism Committee in the European Parliament. MEPs backed the idea of financial sanctions - rather than general fees - as an incentive for airlines to return unneeded slots to the pool as quickly as possible, to enable others to use them. However, many of them were concerned that the proposal would lead to a deterioration of working conditions and safety and deplored the lack of evidence that the regulation would increase the overall efficiency of ground-handling operations. EU Ministers recently agreed on a general approach to tackle airport congestion by updating the rules on slots allocation.

MEPs also agreed on new rules to ensure more efficient use of takeoff and landing slots, and on noise-mitigation measures to protect the public living near airports whilst ensuring smooth flight operations. They inserted provisions to strengthen the independent airport coordinator's role in ensuring fair competition and to prevent secondary slot trading having adverse effects on regional airports and airlines.

In their vote on the “Introduction of noise-related operation restrictions at EU airports” proposal, MEPs stressed that noise-related operating restrictions must obey the subsidiarity principle. They added that the Commission must be notified of such restrictions, but should not be entitled to overrule local authority decisions to impose them, provided they take the “balanced approach” laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), to protect the interests of all stakeholders and local residents.