The Commission should make a clear distinction between large-scale commercial aircraft operations and privately owned airplanes.

Last year the Air Transport Association of Canada estimated that 43 million people walked through airport security checkpoints in Canada, and last year was the worst on record for commercial air traffic.

Among them they run about a hundred airports, which in total represent about 98% of the total commercial air traffic in Canada. Insofar as my background is concerned, it's a rather mixed one.

The scope of the research action will be commercial transport aircraft (including regional and business aeroplanes and helicopters) including their systems and components, as well as the on-board and ground-based elements of air-traffic management systems.

According to Article 4(1)(a) of the Regulation on access for Community air carriers to intra-Community air routes [55], a Member State, following consultations with the other Member States concerned and after having informed the Commission and air carriers operating on the route, may impose a public service obligation in respect of scheduled air services to an airport serving a peripheral or development region in its territory or on a thin route to any regional airport in its territory, any such route being considered vital for the economic development of the region in which the airport is located, to the extent necessary to ensure on that route the adequate provision of scheduled air services satisfying fixed standards of continuity, regul ...[+++]arity, capacity and pricing, which standards air carriers would not assume if they were solely considering their commercial interest.

1 (a) A Member State, following consultations with the other Member States concerned and after having informed the Commission and air carriers operating on the route, may impose a public service obligation in respect of scheduled air services to an airport serving a peripheral or development region in its territory or on a thin route to any regional airport in its territory, any such route being considered vital for the economic development of the region in which the airport is located, to the extent necessary to ensure on that route the adequate provision of scheduled air services satisfying fixed standards of continuity, regularity, capacity and pricing, which standards air carriers would not assume if they were solely consider ...[+++]ing their commercial interest.