970x90 - Montreal - Desktop Sample
Order HereEuropean carriers Air France-KLM, easyJet, International Airlines Group (IAG), Lufthansa Group and Ryanair have joined forces to lobby on European aviation policy, signaling a further shift in the evolving European airline association landscape.
There are currently four main associations representing European airlines. The Association of European Airlines (AEA) acts for the continent’s network airlines, the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) is the low-cost carrier body, the International Air Carrier Association (IACA) is the voice of the leisure carriers, and the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) represents the regionals.
However, on Wednesday Europe’s largest airlines—representing half of all passenger journeys in Europe—went public together for the first time without their respective lobby groups. Collectively, they carried 420 million passengers in 2014.
“The five airlines agreed that airline representation in Brussels today is not as effective as it could be—with six airline representative organizations—and agreed to explore possible forms of future representation,” the group said in a statement.
At a joint media briefing in Brussels, attended by Air France-KLM Group CEO Alexandre de Juniac, easyJet CEO Carolyn McCall, IAG CEO Willie Walsh, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr and Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, the airlines said they had “agreed to work together to lobby for the development of a new EU Aviation Strategy.”
The meeting was prompted by a consultation issued by new EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc. The CEOs called for a “revolution in European aviation” on a par with the liberalization of Europe’s airline sector. A “simple efficient regulatory structure,” they argued, will create jobs, cut costs, strengthen the sector, cut fares and create more passengers choice.
Their four key policy objectives are to simplify regulation, cut airport costs through effective regulation of monopolies, improve Europe’s air traffic management by banning ATC strikes and pushing forward with the Single European Sky, and to cut the industry’s tax burden. The group will write to Commissioner Bulc, asking for these measures to be put in place.
“The range and quality of services have increased and airline costs have fallen by 1%-2% per year for the last two decades. We believe that this decline should now be matched by a reduction in those costs which airlines do not control themselves,” the CEOs said.
They confirmed their support for competition, liberalization and environmental responsibility, along with their opposition to state aid—for airports and airlines alike. The importance of balanced consumer rights was also underlined.
Recently several airlines, all of which are part-owned by Gulf carriers, have quit the AEA, sending a ripple through the status quo. The departing airlines say they do not agree with the association’s Gulf carrier position, but AEA has distanced itself from comments made by former secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus and claims to be pro-liberalization. It says the policy disagreement is actually between its member airlines.
“This is the result of the lobbying work of the airlines individually, not the association. The association has always called for a level playing field,” but is not anti-Gulf carrier, AEA general manager communications Geert Sciot told ATW earlier this year. AEA hasconfirmed it is in talks to join forces with IACA.
Responding to this latest development, AEA welcomed consensus among the European majors and said their four priorities are completely in line with its own policy agenda.
“AEA indicated some years ago already that airline representation in Brussels is not as effective as it could be. Unfortunately, our merger attempts at that time were not welcomed by other industry associations. An initiative that strengthens the voice of the European airline industry and a reflection on future representation is therefore welcomed. At this moment, we cannot speculate about the future of the AEA,” the body said.
When asked about the status of Air France’s AEA membership, an Air France spokeswoman replied: “Air France and KLM remain members of AEA. Reflections on how to structure a larger trade body at European level will, as mentioned this morning, be pursued in the coming weeks.” A Lufthansa spokesman said the German carrier had “no concrete plans to leave AEA.”
Turning to the low costs, an easyJet spokeswoman told ATW: “We haven’t looked at what this means for association membership and we have not left ELFAA.” Likewise, a Ryanair spokesman said: “There are no implications for Ryanair’s membership of ELFAA.”
ERA, which represents 52 European regional airlines, described the new lobbying alliance as “an interesting development” and said it is looking forward to working with the group to “ensure that all sectors of the aviation industry are represented.”
The information on this page may have been provided by a contributor and no guarantees can be made about the accuracy of any content. Contributors must obtain all necessary licenses and/or ownership rights from the relevant content owner(s) before submitting the same for publication. AIRLINE PARTNERSHIP disclaims all liability arising from the publication of content received from contributors. Please refer to our Disclaimer for more details.
970x250 - Melbourne - Desktop Sample
Order Here300x250 - Zurich - Desktop Sample
Order Here300x300 - Rome - Desktop Sample
Order Here300x600 - Paris - Desktop Sample
Order Here468x150 - Cape Town - Phone Sample
Order HereEuropean carriers Air France-KLM, easyJet, International Airlines Group (IAG), Lufthansa Group and Ryanair have joined forces to lobby on European aviation policy, signaling a further shift in the evolving European airline association landscape.
There are currently four main associations representing European airlines. The Association of European Airlines (AEA) acts for the continent’s network airlines, the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) is the low-cost carrier body, the International Air Carrier Association (IACA) is the voice of the leisure carriers, and the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) represents the regionals.
However, on Wednesday Europe’s largest airlines—representing half of all passenger journeys in Europe—went public together for the first time without their respective lobby groups. Collectively, they carried 420 million passengers in 2014.
“The five airlines agreed that airline representation in Brussels today is not as effective as it could be—with six airline representative organizations—and agreed to explore possible forms of future representation,” the group said in a statement.
At a joint media briefing in Brussels, attended by Air France-KLM Group CEO Alexandre de Juniac, easyJet CEO Carolyn McCall, IAG CEO Willie Walsh, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr and Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, the airlines said they had “agreed to work together to lobby for the development of a new EU Aviation Strategy.”
The meeting was prompted by a consultation issued by new EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc. The CEOs called for a “revolution in European aviation” on a par with the liberalization of Europe’s airline sector. A “simple efficient regulatory structure,” they argued, will create jobs, cut costs, strengthen the sector, cut fares and create more passengers choice.
Their four key policy objectives are to simplify regulation, cut airport costs through effective regulation of monopolies, improve Europe’s air traffic management by banning ATC strikes and pushing forward with the Single European Sky, and to cut the industry’s tax burden. The group will write to Commissioner Bulc, asking for these measures to be put in place.
“The range and quality of services have increased and airline costs have fallen by 1%-2% per year for the last two decades. We believe that this decline should now be matched by a reduction in those costs which airlines do not control themselves,” the CEOs said.
They confirmed their support for competition, liberalization and environmental responsibility, along with their opposition to state aid—for airports and airlines alike. The importance of balanced consumer rights was also underlined.
Recently several airlines, all of which are part-owned by Gulf carriers, have quit the AEA, sending a ripple through the status quo. The departing airlines say they do not agree with the association’s Gulf carrier position, but AEA has distanced itself from comments made by former secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus and claims to be pro-liberalization. It says the policy disagreement is actually between its member airlines.
“This is the result of the lobbying work of the airlines individually, not the association. The association has always called for a level playing field,” but is not anti-Gulf carrier, AEA general manager communications Geert Sciot told ATW earlier this year. AEA hasconfirmed it is in talks to join forces with IACA.
Responding to this latest development, AEA welcomed consensus among the European majors and said their four priorities are completely in line with its own policy agenda.
“AEA indicated some years ago already that airline representation in Brussels is not as effective as it could be. Unfortunately, our merger attempts at that time were not welcomed by other industry associations. An initiative that strengthens the voice of the European airline industry and a reflection on future representation is therefore welcomed. At this moment, we cannot speculate about the future of the AEA,” the body said.
When asked about the status of Air France’s AEA membership, an Air France spokeswoman replied: “Air France and KLM remain members of AEA. Reflections on how to structure a larger trade body at European level will, as mentioned this morning, be pursued in the coming weeks.” A Lufthansa spokesman said the German carrier had “no concrete plans to leave AEA.”
Turning to the low costs, an easyJet spokeswoman told ATW: “We haven’t looked at what this means for association membership and we have not left ELFAA.” Likewise, a Ryanair spokesman said: “There are no implications for Ryanair’s membership of ELFAA.”
ERA, which represents 52 European regional airlines, described the new lobbying alliance as “an interesting development” and said it is looking forward to working with the group to “ensure that all sectors of the aviation industry are represented.”
The information on this page may have been provided by a contributor and no guarantees can be made about the accuracy of any content. Contributors must obtain all necessary licenses and/or ownership rights from the relevant content owner(s) before submitting the same for publication. AIRLINE PARTNERSHIP disclaims all liability arising from the publication of content received from contributors. Please refer to our Disclaimer for more details.
970x250 - Melbourne - Desktop Sample
Order Here728x90 - Cape Town - Tablet Sample
Order HereEuropean carriers Air France-KLM, easyJet, International Airlines Group (IAG), Lufthansa Group and Ryanair have joined forces to lobby on European aviation policy, signaling a further shift in the evolving European airline association landscape.
There are currently four main associations representing European airlines. The Association of European Airlines (AEA) acts for the continent’s network airlines, the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) is the low-cost carrier body, the International Air Carrier Association (IACA) is the voice of the leisure carriers, and the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) represents the regionals.
However, on Wednesday Europe’s largest airlines—representing half of all passenger journeys in Europe—went public together for the first time without their respective lobby groups. Collectively, they carried 420 million passengers in 2014.
“The five airlines agreed that airline representation in Brussels today is not as effective as it could be—with six airline representative organizations—and agreed to explore possible forms of future representation,” the group said in a statement.
At a joint media briefing in Brussels, attended by Air France-KLM Group CEO Alexandre de Juniac, easyJet CEO Carolyn McCall, IAG CEO Willie Walsh, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr and Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, the airlines said they had “agreed to work together to lobby for the development of a new EU Aviation Strategy.”
The meeting was prompted by a consultation issued by new EU Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc. The CEOs called for a “revolution in European aviation” on a par with the liberalization of Europe’s airline sector. A “simple efficient regulatory structure,” they argued, will create jobs, cut costs, strengthen the sector, cut fares and create more passengers choice.
Their four key policy objectives are to simplify regulation, cut airport costs through effective regulation of monopolies, improve Europe’s air traffic management by banning ATC strikes and pushing forward with the Single European Sky, and to cut the industry’s tax burden. The group will write to Commissioner Bulc, asking for these measures to be put in place.
“The range and quality of services have increased and airline costs have fallen by 1%-2% per year for the last two decades. We believe that this decline should now be matched by a reduction in those costs which airlines do not control themselves,” the CEOs said.
They confirmed their support for competition, liberalization and environmental responsibility, along with their opposition to state aid—for airports and airlines alike. The importance of balanced consumer rights was also underlined.
Recently several airlines, all of which are part-owned by Gulf carriers, have quit the AEA, sending a ripple through the status quo. The departing airlines say they do not agree with the association’s Gulf carrier position, but AEA has distanced itself from comments made by former secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus and claims to be pro-liberalization. It says the policy disagreement is actually between its member airlines.
“This is the result of the lobbying work of the airlines individually, not the association. The association has always called for a level playing field,” but is not anti-Gulf carrier, AEA general manager communications Geert Sciot told ATW earlier this year. AEA hasconfirmed it is in talks to join forces with IACA.
Responding to this latest development, AEA welcomed consensus among the European majors and said their four priorities are completely in line with its own policy agenda.
“AEA indicated some years ago already that airline representation in Brussels is not as effective as it could be. Unfortunately, our merger attempts at that time were not welcomed by other industry associations. An initiative that strengthens the voice of the European airline industry and a reflection on future representation is therefore welcomed. At this moment, we cannot speculate about the future of the AEA,” the body said.
When asked about the status of Air France’s AEA membership, an Air France spokeswoman replied: “Air France and KLM remain members of AEA. Reflections on how to structure a larger trade body at European level will, as mentioned this morning, be pursued in the coming weeks.” A Lufthansa spokesman said the German carrier had “no concrete plans to leave AEA.”
Turning to the low costs, an easyJet spokeswoman told ATW: “We haven’t looked at what this means for association membership and we have not left ELFAA.” Likewise, a Ryanair spokesman said: “There are no implications for Ryanair’s membership of ELFAA.”
ERA, which represents 52 European regional airlines, described the new lobbying alliance as “an interesting development” and said it is looking forward to working with the group to “ensure that all sectors of the aviation industry are represented.”
The information on this page may have been provided by a contributor and no guarantees can be made about the accuracy of any content. Contributors must obtain all necessary licenses and/or ownership rights from the relevant content owner(s) before submitting the same for publication. AIRLINE PARTNERSHIP disclaims all liability arising from the publication of content received from contributors. Please refer to our Disclaimer for more details.