on safety in air transport especially with low cost companies

The tragic accident of the Cyprus airliner Helios, that took place near Athens on August 14th and killed 121 holidaymakers from Cyprus, has exposed a number of questions on air transport safety.

 It is a known fact that competition creates a continuous downward drive of prices and costs, especially in low cost private companies. This is often done at the expense of safety procedures, frequency of maintenance, quality of spare parts, qualifications of professional personnel, etc.

 It is therefore imperative that governments should hold a very tight control on operation licenses, especially of private companies operating in competitive environments. The main objective is to ensure that all regulations, especially those related to safety issues and issues of employment rights are 100% implemented (not just on paper but in practice!).

 We call upon the Green Group in the European Parliament and all Green Parties in Europe and elsewhere, to exercise pressure on national governments so as to ensure that customer safety and employee well being will not be sacrificed for the benefit of profit.