Swiss CEO: Europe's competitiveness no longer can be taken 'for granted'
By Aaron Karp | June 18, 2010
Excessive government fees and regulation, aging infrastructure and the emergence of major airlines in the Middle East and Asia are threatening European airlines' long-held position at the forefront of the global air transport industry, according to Swiss International Air Lines CEO Harry Hohmeister.
Speaking yesterday to the International Aviation Club in Washington, he said, "We have to face the hard fact that the gravity of the industry is shifting" to emerging markets in the Middle East and Asia. He noted that while airlines around the world are recovering from the global recession, "Europe is still doing very poorly. The competitiveness of the European aviation industry is not something we can take for granted anymore" (ATW Daily News, June 4).
Pointing to the fact that Emirates now has 90 A380s on order (ATW Daily News, June 9) even though Dubai's population is less than 2 million, he joked, "Swiss should have 400 A380s." Noting that Europe's airlines now are directly competing with the likes of EK, he said the continent's governments are squeezing carriers with too many charges and ticket taxes.
"While we're investing millions in customer service [to compete with carriers like EK], government cashiers are taking money from our customers," he complained. "We must reject new taxes under the label of environmental…that take money away from airlines that we could better use for investing in new technology."
Referring to the new "ecological air travel levy" announced this month by Germany (ATW Daily News, June 9), Hohmeister said, "The only aim of this tax is to reduce the debt of the state, not to reduce CO2 levels." And despite the heavy fees imposed on airlines, Europe's nations are not investing adequately in aviation infrastructure, he said.
Where once US and European airports were "first rate" and airports in the developing world were "shabby," the situation has "changed," he said. "The first-rate airports are being built [in Asia and the Middle East] and not here [the US] anymore and it's worse in Europe…[Passenger] traffic between the US and Europe is still the highest, but other regions are catching up and catching up fast."
IATA's latest forecast issued this month calls for the global industry to earn a $2.5 billion 2010 profit with every region in the black except Europe, for which it projects a $2.8 billion loss (ATW Daily News, June 8).
http://atwonline.com/aeropolitics-r...itiveness-no-longer-can-be-taken-granted-0617
By Aaron Karp | June 18, 2010
Excessive government fees and regulation, aging infrastructure and the emergence of major airlines in the Middle East and Asia are threatening European airlines' long-held position at the forefront of the global air transport industry, according to Swiss International Air Lines CEO Harry Hohmeister.
Speaking yesterday to the International Aviation Club in Washington, he said, "We have to face the hard fact that the gravity of the industry is shifting" to emerging markets in the Middle East and Asia. He noted that while airlines around the world are recovering from the global recession, "Europe is still doing very poorly. The competitiveness of the European aviation industry is not something we can take for granted anymore" (ATW Daily News, June 4).
Pointing to the fact that Emirates now has 90 A380s on order (ATW Daily News, June 9) even though Dubai's population is less than 2 million, he joked, "Swiss should have 400 A380s." Noting that Europe's airlines now are directly competing with the likes of EK, he said the continent's governments are squeezing carriers with too many charges and ticket taxes.
"While we're investing millions in customer service [to compete with carriers like EK], government cashiers are taking money from our customers," he complained. "We must reject new taxes under the label of environmental…that take money away from airlines that we could better use for investing in new technology."
Referring to the new "ecological air travel levy" announced this month by Germany (ATW Daily News, June 9), Hohmeister said, "The only aim of this tax is to reduce the debt of the state, not to reduce CO2 levels." And despite the heavy fees imposed on airlines, Europe's nations are not investing adequately in aviation infrastructure, he said.
Where once US and European airports were "first rate" and airports in the developing world were "shabby," the situation has "changed," he said. "The first-rate airports are being built [in Asia and the Middle East] and not here [the US] anymore and it's worse in Europe…[Passenger] traffic between the US and Europe is still the highest, but other regions are catching up and catching up fast."
IATA's latest forecast issued this month calls for the global industry to earn a $2.5 billion 2010 profit with every region in the black except Europe, for which it projects a $2.8 billion loss (ATW Daily News, June 8).
http://atwonline.com/aeropolitics-r...itiveness-no-longer-can-be-taken-granted-0617