General aviation is vital to enhancing Europe’s competitiveness and innovation

General Aviation Manufacturers Association submitted recommendations to the European Commission for the development of a new EU Aviation Strategy, emphasising the central role general and business aviation plays in strengthening Europe’s competitiveness, driving innovation and meeting sustainability goals.  

Kyle Martin, GAMA’s Vice President of European Affairs commented: “As the European Commission works to advance a renewed Aviation Strategy, it will be vital to the general and business aviation manufacturing industry that the framework reinforces industrial strength, ensures regulatory efficiency, preserves the integrity of the market and supports a sustainable transition grounded in technological neutrality. Our industry is a core asset which provides significant economic and societal contributions, enables innovation and reinforces competitiveness. Europe has the opportunity to build an aviation strategy that strengthens industry, accelerates innovation and supports sustainability without undermining global competitiveness. Recognising general and business aviation as a strategic asset will be key to achieving those goals.”

To support the European Commission’s call for evidence, GAMA submitted a policy white paper entitled General Aviation and the Next Phase of Europe’s Aviation Competitiveness Strategy. The white paper outlines how the EU can better recognise general and business aviation as a core industrial asset while aligning policy, regulatory and funding frameworks to reinforce Europe’s aerospace leadership.

GAMA calls for a competitiveness framework that preserves open, rules-based trade, avoids protectionist measures and ensures stable, innovation-friendly regulatory and funding conditions for general and business aviation manufacturers. The white paper also highlights the need for an efficiently resourced EASA to ensure it can deliver timely, predictable and proportionate certification structures. 

The white paper reinforces the importance of safeguarding the European Aviation Single Market, warning that fragmented national environmental and tax measures or discriminatory policies targeting general and business aviation could increase costs for European businesses, weaken European competitiveness and undermine investment certainty for Member States. Addressing workforce shortages through education, reskilling and targeted skills initiatives will also be essential to sustaining Europe’s aerospace leadership.

Additionally, GAMA urges continued support for ICAO’s CORSIA scheme instead of a unilateral expansion of the EU’s Emissions Trading System Directive. CORSIA remains the only global pricing scheme for carbon emissions that can ensure global regulatory coherence and help avoid global market distortions. The white paper also stresses that Europe’s decarbonisation policies must remain technology neutral, supporting sustainable aviation fuels as the most immediate emissions reduction pathway while enabling new propulsion technologies to scale over time.

Most importantly, GAMA emphasised that General and business aviation delivers essential economic and societal benefits across Europe. The sector contributes €110 billion annually to EU GDP, supports approximately 440,000 jobs, connects thousands of communities and provides vital public services including medical transport, humanitarian missions, firefighting and pilot training. GAMA looks forward to continued engagement with the European Commission and EU policymakers as the Aviation Strategy is developed.