Help us manage our way out of crisis, airline chiefs tell EU commissioner

The AEA Chairman for 2009, Ivan Misetic of Croatia Airlines, was accompanied by Jean-Cyril Spinetta of Air France/KLM. Willie Walsh of British Airways, Wolfgang Mayrhuber of Lufthansa and Steve Ridgway of Virgin Atlantic, as well as AEA Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus. Commissioner Tajani heard how economic conditions, since late last year, have been the worst on record for the airlines. A sector which is used to, and plans for, a growth of around 5% in both traffic and revenues has seen reductions in passenger traffic by 7%, passenger revenue by 12% and freight traffic by 22% during the first half of 2009. Said Ivan Misetic: “the airlines are used to managing economic disturbances; this is an economic maelstrom”.

The AEA CEOs emphasised that, in contrast to other parts of the world, European airlines were not looking for taxpayer-backed bailouts. “The airlines want to manage their own way out of the crisis”, said the AEA Chairman, “and that means removing barriers and creating pathways back to prosperity”. He cited the belated impact of the suspension, well into the Summer season, of the use-it-or-lose-it slot rule. “At last we have some degree of confidence that we can match capacity to the temporary drop in traffic, without permanently losing slots”, he said, “but we must have the opportunity to maintain this process through the Winter”.

The recession had not relieved the airlines of their need to access funds to regenerate their business and maintain their commitment to the environment, the Commissioner was told. The financial crisis had cut off many commercial sources of funding, and a decision by the European Investment Bank to cease supporting the airline sector urgently needed to be reviewed.
 

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 30-Jul-09