European airlines push for competitor crackdown
- Latest News
- Thursday, 14 October 2010
Air France-KLM ceo Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said this week that it's unfair that Gulf carriers pay little in the way of airport charges or fuel taxes at their own airport hubs, allowing them to offer cheaper tickets.
The Association of European Airlines, which meets on Friday, could seek action under EU Regulation 868, which imposes duties on foreign carriers which use subsidies or others forms of "non-commercial advantage" to undercut prices, an AEA spokesman said.
Emirates already has rejected charges that it accepts government subsidies or uses export credit rules that benefit Middle Eastern airlines.
"When so many entities and economies around the world are being shored up by governments in order to survive, it is surprising to be singled out with unsubstantiated claims of being subsidised," Emirates president Tim Clarke said.
"We have grown without subsidy through the success of our commercially-driven business model and see no reason to apologise for what we have achieved."
Gourgeon had said Europe's status as an air travel hub was "under threat" from Emirates, Qatar and other UAE-region carriers. Clarke added: "It is disappointing to see the head of a major European airline issuing factually incorrect and wholly-misleading statements. The merger of Air France and KLM has created the most dominant carrier in Europe and the notion that Emirates is taking jobs away is ludicrous."
