EURO MP Mrs Eryl McNally has rejected claims by the British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) that European Parliament proposals would substantially increase flying hours and put the lives of passengers and crew at risk.

Mrs McNally, who lives in Abbots Langley and represents the East of England Region in the European Parliament, said, "With both London Luton International and Stansted airports in my constituency I am very keen for pilots and passengers to be clear about these proposals.

"First and foremost they will not mean that pilots will be forced to work longer hours.

"The proposals aim to create a European framework for flight time regulations. Instead of having 15 different systems one for each Member State we'd have one common system.

"My parliamentary colleagues and I will be setting a maximum limit above which pilots can't be asked to work.

"British pilots have some of the best rules as far as working time is concerned and there is nothing in this report that stops them from having the same system that they have now.

"Only the British authorities could bring about change of that kind.

"This will be good news for British travellers when they fly with other EU airlines as they will know that their pilots too will be subject to this common limit making European air travel safer."

January 27, 2003 17:30