Russia turns down extra overflights-airlines

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BRUSSELS | Fri Jun 8, 2012 12:46pm EDT

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia has turned down requests from Lufthansa Cargo and Finnair for additional overflights, the airlines said on Friday, though the reason for the refusal was not immediately clear.

Airlines routinely have to negotiate overflights and market access through a maze of bilateral agreements that govern aviation. The use of Siberian airspace by European airlines has been a source of trade friction in the past.

Russia is scheduled to phase out charges for overflights, but has threatened to restrict the use of its air corridors that connect Europe with North Asia as part of protests over EU plans to include all flights in and out of Europe in its Emissions Trading Scheme ETS.L.

The EU decision to include aviation in the ETS has stirred international outrage and threats of a trade war, with Russia among the staunchest opponents.

"The Commission and Russian side are in the process of talks over the ETS," a Russian diplomatic source said.

A Commission spokesman said the denial of overflights was not directly related to the ETS row.

Finnair (FIA1S.HE) said in a statement this week it had adjusted its longhaul capacity plans, citing several reasons including a shortage of overflight rights, as well as maintenance on large aircraft.

But it also said that even with the adjustments, it would fly a record number of flights to Asia.

A Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) spokesman also said some requests for incremental traffic had been turned down.

Since the EU at the start of this year began implementing its law to make all flights in and out of Europe buy carbon allowances under the ETS, there has been a series of threats.

The European Commission said only 10 airlines - all from China and India - had so far had failed to submit emissions data. Some 1,200 have complied.

In addition, India briefly held up some traffic requests from charter airlines as a symbolic protest, industry sources said.

The Commission has said it will only modify its law if the U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO.L can come up with a global scheme to tackle the rise in emissions from the airline sector. ICAO meets this month to assess progress.

U.S. airlines have so far reluctantly complied with the EU scheme, but lawmakers in the United States have proposed blocking legislation, which could be used to prohibit airlines from complying with the EU law.

The U.S. Congress heard testimony on the blocking legislation this week.

(Reporting by Barbara Lewis, Victoria Bryan, Tim Hepher and Ritsuko Ando; Editing by David Holmes)

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What Does $300 Extra a Year Mean to You?

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AppId is over the quota

May 22 2012

by Sergio Muñoz, Senior Policy Analyst, Health Policy Project, NCLR

Remember the trending Twitter campaign, #40Dollars, which the White House launched last December to rally support for extension of the payroll tax break?  That extra $40 per paycheck was apparently a big deal—responses flooded in at a rate of 2,000 an hour.  What do you think another $535 or $589 means for American families? 

Curious?  You have something to look forward to. A research study just published on the savings for health care consumers if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is implemented in its entirety is starting to attract notice.  According to the researcher, the regulated benefits of individual health insurance plans that will be available under the ACA would have saved the average consumer almost $300 a year in out-of-pocket costs.  The savings are even more significant for the near-elderly and those with limited incomes, which come out to $589 and $535, respectively.  That’s not between-the-sofa-cushions-change.

The high out-of-pocket costs of most health insurance plans prior to health care reform are a big reason why 15% of insured Hispanics cite financial concerns as a barrier to a usual source of care, and why one in four dips into savings for health care costs when a doctor’s visit can no longer be postponed.  This is the sort of out-of-pocket unaffordability that the ACA was supposed to fix, and if this study is any indication, the savings are not chump change. 

So the next time someone tells you they want to repeal the law completely, keep in mind that this would also repeal all the other reforms that will finally make affordable quality health insurance available, and deliver hundreds of dollars in savings to us all. 

Preventive services offered without cost-sharing, already estimated to be available to 6.1 million Latinos?  Gone with repeal. 

Tax credits toward the purchase of private health insurance that will help low- and moderate-income families even more, on top of the out-of-pocket savings projected by the study?  Yup, gone with repeal as well.

The Supreme Court has always affected our daily lives more than most people realize.  An adverse decision on the constitutionality of health care reform might finally drive this point home.  Sticker shock tends to do that.

Issues: Basics of Health Care Reform, Health, Health Care, Health Care Reform
Geography:California, Far West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, Texas

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What Does $300 Extra a Year Mean to You?

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

May 22 2012

by Sergio Muñoz, Senior Policy Analyst, Health Policy Project, NCLR

Remember the trending Twitter campaign, #40Dollars, which the White House launched last December to rally support for extension of the payroll tax break?  That extra $40 per paycheck was apparently a big deal—responses flooded in at a rate of 2,000 an hour.  What do you think another $535 or $589 means for American families? 

Curious?  You have something to look forward to. A research study just published on the savings for health care consumers if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is implemented in its entirety is starting to attract notice.  According to the researcher, the regulated benefits of individual health insurance plans that will be available under the ACA would have saved the average consumer almost $300 a year in out-of-pocket costs.  The savings are even more significant for the near-elderly and those with limited incomes, which come out to $589 and $535, respectively.  That’s not between-the-sofa-cushions-change.

The high out-of-pocket costs of most health insurance plans prior to health care reform are a big reason why 15% of insured Hispanics cite financial concerns as a barrier to a usual source of care, and why one in four dips into savings for health care costs when a doctor’s visit can no longer be postponed.  This is the sort of out-of-pocket unaffordability that the ACA was supposed to fix, and if this study is any indication, the savings are not chump change. 

So the next time someone tells you they want to repeal the law completely, keep in mind that this would also repeal all the other reforms that will finally make affordable quality health insurance available, and deliver hundreds of dollars in savings to us all. 

Preventive services offered without cost-sharing, already estimated to be available to 6.1 million Latinos?  Gone with repeal. 

Tax credits toward the purchase of private health insurance that will help low- and moderate-income families even more, on top of the out-of-pocket savings projected by the study?  Yup, gone with repeal as well.

The Supreme Court has always affected our daily lives more than most people realize.  An adverse decision on the constitutionality of health care reform might finally drive this point home.  Sticker shock tends to do that.

Issues: Basics of Health Care Reform, Health, Health Care, Health Care Reform
Geography:California, Far West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, Texas

View the original article here

Read More