Measures to boost European aviation

The European Commission is considering new measures to tackle what it sees as unfair competition from non-EU airlines, as part of a package of proposals unveiled on Monday designed to boost the competitiveness of Europe's aviation sector.

The commission also asked national governments to give it a mandate to start talks on air transport agreements with a number of countries including China, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.

Talks with the Gulf countries are likely to be fraught with difficulty since some European legacy carriers accuse the Gulf airlines of receiving unfair state subsidies. Emirates and Etihad reject the allegations.

Wide ranging

The

Aviation Package

contains a wide range of measures designed to tackle airports’ capacity constraints and charges and regulate the use of drones.

A group made up of the EU's five biggest airlines, including Ryanair, called on the commission to tackle airport monopolies, high charges and taxation.

Europe's aviation industry has been hit by the rapid expansion of Gulf carriers and the rise of Asia as an air traffic hub. Its legacy carriers have also suffered at the hands of low-cost players such as Ryanair and EasyJet.

Next year, the Commission plans to issue guidelines on the law on ownership and control of EU airlines to give legal certainty to investors and airlines. – Reuters