European airline CEOs have warned EU policymakers that the continent’s aviation sector faces an existential crisis unless “urgent reforms” are made to air traffic control (ATC) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) policy.
In a joint statement published by Airlines for Europe (A4E), the CEOs of major carriers said that Europe’s fragmented airspace, frequent ATC strikes and misguided SAF policies are costing passengers, airlines and the climate.
The group includes the CEOs of Air France-KLM, easyJet, International Airlines Group (IAG), Jet2 and Ryanair, amongs others.
More than a year into the new EU term, the group said it has seen little action to reinforce competitiveness, support the sector’s transition to net zero, or to reduce ATC disruption.
“We can no longer continue with inertia about the airline sector and a fragmented market, coupled with a stranglehold of inhibiting regulations,” the CEOs said.
“The challenges ahead are immense, and our competitors are not subject to the same rules or costs. The EU and national governments must sober up to today’s geopolitical reality and its implications for the resilience of European aviation."
The CEOs complained that European airspace increasingly finds itself “shut down on a whim” due to air traffic controller strikes in a single member state.
Arriving and departing flights in that member state are then disrupted, and overflying planes are required to detour, causing delays for passengers and unavoidable costs for airlines.
To solve these issues, EU leaders must “rewrite the script” on ATC and industrial action, the group said.
The CEOs made renewed calls for mandatory arbitration before a strike is called; 21-day advance notifications of any industrial action; protection of overflights during strikes; and a guarantee of a right of redress for airlines.
This summer, according to data from Eurocontrol, passengers suffered more than 12 million minutes of delays — the equivalent of 23 years’ lost flight time.
As covered by Airline Economics, these delays are not only the result of strikes but are also driven by longstanding shortages of air traffic controllers across major airspaces.
On sustainability, the CEOs warned that the bloc’s ‘Fit for 55’ SAF mandates risk driving up costs without sufficient market support.
The ‘Fit for 55’ package includes the ReFuelEU Aviation mandate, which requires aviation fuel suppliers to blend increasing amounts of SAF into conventional jet fuel at EU airports. The mandates are progressive, starting at 2% SAF in 2025 and rising to 70% by 2050.
However, the CEOs argue that “simply implementing mandates does not create a functioning SAF market". Instead, European airlines are currently paying the price in the form of excessive surcharges and a lack of price transparency, making large-scale SAF use “impractical”.
They called on the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP) to “derisk” investment in SAF production and bring down the cost of SAF.
They also called for a “market intermediary” for SAF, more multi-year SAF allowances, a simple book-and-claim system, and a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
A CBAM is a policy that puts a carbon price on certain imported goods to ensure they have a comparable carbon cost to domestically produced goods, preventing "carbon leakage".
These initiatives may help to fairly distribute SAF costs between EU and non-EU airlines, and “fast-track” the sector’s progress towards decarbonisation.
“The clock is ticking, and time is running out. Europe’s airlines cannot continue being held back by outdated thinking and self-defeating policies,” the CEOs said.
"Without urgent EU action and reform this year, Europe’s competitive edge will erode, leaving passengers paying the price.
“For all these reasons, the European Commission must launch a Strategic Dialogue for European aviation, as was done for other key industrial sectors.”