Videoconference, 17 November 2023 — The Economic Working Group (ECO) met online for its 16th meeting to exchange information on air transport and economic market matters and to take stock of the 2023 work programme. Discussion was had on the latest draft of the ECAC market liberalisation toolkit, which was in the process of being updated to include guidance for Member States on air traffic rights and ownership and control.
The meeting agreed to issue a survey for Member States to establish a baseline of knowledge and understanding of current ground handling regulation and policies as applied in Europe. This will allow the group to consider further where specific issues for the ground handling market exist, and to develop ideas as to how they could be addressed.
In looking ahead to next year, the group also identified key areas of interest for inviting external speakers to address ECO members at its next online information session in 2024. These included exploring, from an economic and market perspective, global distribution systems in aviation and market resilience for navigation and guidance systems.