* European Regions Airlines says small carriers need cash
* ERA chief says Commission slow to react to crisis (Adds further ERA comment, detail)
By John Bowker
WOKING, England, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Europe's smaller airlines want access to European Investment Bank (EIB) funding as some will battle to stay in business this winter, according to the head of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA).
The ERA, which represents 65 regional airlines, has sent a paper to the European Commission (EC) asking for access to EIB loans, which are available to other ailing industries such as car manufacturing.
"If a number of carriers have to endure a poor winter, cash resources are very limited. Regional carriers are in trouble as they have already been parsimonious. They've got (no costs) to cut, so some airlines are going to find it desperately difficult to survive," ERA Director General Mike Ambrose told Reuters.
"This is a much bigger crisis than 9/11, but the EC has been very slow to react to it ... What is needed is access to cash, we have asked for European bank funds to be released."
European finance ministers last year approved 31 billion euros ($44 billion) in extra lending by the EIB to boost the availability of credit for companies caught short by the credit crisis and the resulting global economic downturn.
Ambrose said in an interview at ERA's headquarters that without extra cash several more smaller European airlines could go bust in what he described as the worst conditions for the industry since "day one of World War Two".
ERA said in a submission to the European Commission, which was seen by Reuters, that it was "not requesting any direct subsidies", but that access to EIB funds and development help to address environmental concerns should be considered.
Airlines around the world have been fighting for survival due to falling passenger numbers linked to the global economic crisis.
GLIMMERS OF LIGHT
Ambrose said that while some economic indicators showed a "few glimmers of light" for a potential recovery in 2010, smaller airlines would continue to go bust until then.
ERA research shows that around 85 airlines have gone bust worldwide since the beginning of January 2008. Ambrose forecast another 20 would go under by the end of April 2010, of which about 40 percent could be in Europe.
"That would not be unrealistic," he said.
ERA has also asked the Commission to cut down on regulatory reforms and is an opponent of the European Trading Scheme (ETS) to reduce carbon emissions, which will include airlines from 2012.
The body is now preparing to fight the airlines' case ahead of the Copenhagen summit on climate change later this year and hopes that future industry levies will not be unmanageable.
When asked to comment on the dominant position of Irish Irish carrier Ryanair, now the biggest airline in Europe by market capitalisation and passenger numbers, Ambrose said:
"(Chief executive) Michael O'Leary is a cheap tailor. He has allowed a lot of people to buy clothes at affordable prices, but done nothing for the tailoring profession," he said.
Ryanair has cut services at London Stansted and Manchester in recent days and opened a new base in Leeds Bradford, northeast England, causing shares in Dart Group, owner of small Leeds airline Jet2, to fall 10 percent. ($1 = 0.7091 euro) (Editing by Karen Foster)