Asian airlines seek state aid to level playing field

Air carriers in the Asia-Pacific region, badly hurt by the fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States have issued a distress call to their governments, saying the massive state bailouts of airlines in the West had put them at a gross competitive disadvantage.

The heads of 18 airlines making up the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) meeting in Bali, Indonesia over the weekend unanimously approved a resolution calling on governments to ensure a "healthy and profitable aviation industry."

A statement issued at the end of the closed-door meeting said the AAPA’s assembly of presidents recommended specific steps authorities could take to "assist the industry in this time of crisis (particularly) on the need to maintain a level playing field."

"A number of governments in industrialized countries have responded to the emergency afflicting their aviation industries by extending financial assistance and guarantees to their national airlines, thereby promoting stability but in the process creating competitive imbalances," the AAPA said in its resolution.

Such disparities, the group added, would "unduly affect airlines of developing countries" which comprise many of the organization’s members.

To address this concern, the AAPA called on governments to adopt a series of urgent measures, including the slashing "to the greatest extent possible" of all charges, fees, taxes and other financial impositions on the industry.

It also asked authorities to review regulatory measures, such as codes of conduct and consumer-protection rules, that may unnecessarily bloat operating costs of airlines.

The group, likewise, challenged governments to rejuvenate the ailing tourism market by more vigorous promotions while admonishing them to refrain from publishing "unduly alarmist" advisories.

Recently, the US and Japanese governments issued notices to their citizens warning against travel to certain countries.

Asia-Pacific carriers have been among the hardest hit by the collapse of public confidence in flying in the wake of Sept. 11.

Two of the AAPA’s members, Ansett Australian Airlines and Air New Zeland, flirted with bankruptcy (Ansett was actually grounded for two weeks) before being rescued by government and private investors. – PNA