ATA to launch challenge to EU ETS in European Court of Justice

American Air Transport Association (ATA) confirmed outside the IATA AGM it will launch a request in the European Court of Justice in Jul-2011 to block the inclusion of air transport in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) (The Telegraph, 06-Jun-2011). ATA president Nicholas Calio stated the position of the association is that the EU scheme is "both bad policy and illegal" as it violates international law through the application of EU policy on US carriers without the approval of ICAO. ATA labelled the system as counterproductive as it will leave US carriers unable to afford to phase-out older, less-efficient aircraft and replace them with newer types.