The three major Gulf airlines have won qualified support from Europe’s airports and tourism boards in the ongoing row over subsidies that involves both US and European carriers.
Three major US carriers – Delta Airlines, American and United Airlines – claim Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways have over many years received US$42 billion of subsidies from the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The American airlines say this support undermines fair competition, a stance supported by Europe's Air France-KLM and Lufthansa.
However, a new report commissioned by the European Travel Commission (ETC) and the Airports Council International (ACI)-Europe says the support the three Gulf airlines received from their governments came from a “legitimate economic development policy”.
Arnaud Feist, president of ACI Europe and CEO of Brussels Airport, said European airlines "are right in saying that the expansion of these (Gulf) airlines is a fierce challenge for European aviation. But the issues they are raising in this context and the remedies they are proposing are the wrong ones.
“Open Skies and fair competition need to go hand in hand. But Europe’s airports and Tourism Organisations do not regard the public financing of airport infrastructure, start-up aid for airlines and more favourable fiscal regimes as necessarily involving unfair competition – but rather as legitimate economic development policy choices, made by the Gulf States,” he stated.
Eduardo Santander, executive director of the ETC added: “The EU’s new Aviation Strategy should address a range of issues, such as more liberal and tourist-friendly visa policies, enhancing airport capacity, abolishing aviation taxes, reducing regulatory driven costs and implementing the Single European Sky.
"In the future, the major growth in tourism arrivals will be from emerging source markets located outside Europe."
He also said the three main Gulf carrier had helped Europe’s tourism sector cope with the slowdown after the 2008-2009 global crisis.
Lufthansa holds firm
Lufthansa Group, comprising Lufthansa German Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Germanwings, Eurowings, Cityline and Lufthansa Cargo, recently outlined its concerns to US officials over the “unprecedented growth of the three Gulf carriers” in the EU and US markets, which its says has exceeded normal patterns.
Thomas Kropp, senior vp group international relations and government affairs said the growth of Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways was six times that of European airlines.
The capacity growth of Gulf carriers fare exceeded other airlines, he said.
"In the case of Europe, average annual growth in seats between 2004 and 2014 was 16.5 per cent for the Gulf carriers and only 2.7 per cent for all other European airlines,” said Kropp. “80 per cent of passengers occupying seats in Gulf carriers' planes are flying beyond the Gulf hubs to destinations in Asia and Africa.
“Today about 3.1 million passengers travel from and to Germany through the hubs in the Gulf instead of using direct services of German, Asian and African airlines,” said Kropp, adding airlines in the Lufthansa Group are “unable to fairly compete for growth” in Asia and Africa.
The three major Gulf airlines have won qualified support from Europe’s airports and tourism boards in the ongoing row over subsidies that involves both US and European carriers.
Three major US carriers – Delta Airlines, American and United Airlines – claim Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways have over many years received US$42 billion of subsidies from the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The American airlines say this support undermines fair competition, a stance supported by Europe's Air France-KLM and Lufthansa.
However, a new report commissioned by the European Travel Commission (ETC) and the Airports Council International (ACI)-Europe says the support the three Gulf airlines received from their governments came from a “legitimate economic development policy”.
Arnaud Feist, president of ACI Europe and CEO of Brussels Airport, said European airlines "are right in saying that the expansion of these (Gulf) airlines is a fierce challenge for European aviation. But the issues they are raising in this context and the remedies they are proposing are the wrong ones.
“Open Skies and fair competition need to go hand in hand. But Europe’s airports and Tourism Organisations do not regard the public financing of airport infrastructure, start-up aid for airlines and more favourable fiscal regimes as necessarily involving unfair competition – but rather as legitimate economic development policy choices, made by the Gulf States,” he stated.
Eduardo Santander, executive director of the ETC added: “The EU’s new Aviation Strategy should address a range of issues, such as more liberal and tourist-friendly visa policies, enhancing airport capacity, abolishing aviation taxes, reducing regulatory driven costs and implementing the Single European Sky.
"In the future, the major growth in tourism arrivals will be from emerging source markets located outside Europe."
He also said the three main Gulf carrier had helped Europe’s tourism sector cope with the slowdown after the 2008-2009 global crisis.
Lufthansa holds firm
Lufthansa Group, comprising Lufthansa German Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Germanwings, Eurowings, Cityline and Lufthansa Cargo, recently outlined its concerns to US officials over the “unprecedented growth of the three Gulf carriers” in the EU and US markets, which its says has exceeded normal patterns.
Thomas Kropp, senior vp group international relations and government affairs said the growth of Etihad Airways, Emirates and Qatar Airways was six times that of European airlines.
The capacity growth of Gulf carriers fare exceeded other airlines, he said.
"In the case of Europe, average annual growth in seats between 2004 and 2014 was 16.5 per cent for the Gulf carriers and only 2.7 per cent for all other European airlines,” said Kropp. “80 per cent of passengers occupying seats in Gulf carriers' planes are flying beyond the Gulf hubs to destinations in Asia and Africa.
“Today about 3.1 million passengers travel from and to Germany through the hubs in the Gulf instead of using direct services of German, Asian and African airlines,” said Kropp, adding airlines in the Lufthansa Group are “unable to fairly compete for growth” in Asia and Africa.
