The 2015 AEA Leadership Summit was held in Antwerp, Belgium on Friday 16 October.
Dr Temel Kotil, President of AEA and CEO of Turkish Airlines, presented the current state of the European air transport with 2014 figures showing a load factor of 77% for european airlines, 84% for long haul flights and a record 81% for the total of scheduled ones. Despite the reduction of the cost of fuel, the actual cost reduction for the airlines due to hedging etc is 3% and the 10 years net profitability average is only 1% for european airlines. He added that politicians have to understand the needs of the industry and that the decisions taken by this generation of regulators will shape the industry - for better or worse - well into the future.
Athar Husain Khan, CEO of AEA, from his side stated that Europe is in a state of...
Dr Temel Kotil, President of AEA and CEO of Turkish Airlines, presented the current state of the European air transport with 2014 figures showing a load factor of 77% for european airlines, 84% for long haul flights and a record 81% for the total of scheduled ones. Despite the reduction of the cost of fuel, the actual cost reduction for the airlines due to hedging etc is 3% and the 10 years net profitability average is only 1% for european airlines. He added that politicians have to understand the needs of the industry and that the decisions taken by this generation of regulators will shape the industry - for better or worse - well into the future.
Athar Husain Khan, CEO of AEA, from his side stated that Europe is in a state of...
mess and the influence
of Europe has decreased. There is a need to find a way to bridge the
gap from the situation we are now and the future. The forecast for
traffic growth in Europe for the year 2015 is 6.8%. He added that flying
today has never being cheaper. European airlines have embraced
completion that led them to restructure, rebrand and refocus. He went to
that in Europe there exist more than 50 regulatory topics. “We need to
liberalise the market and let the market decide: liberalise airport
infrastructure, ANSPs, ground handling, ownership and control and the
traffic rights». He concluded by remarking that the aviation package of
the European Commission lacks ambition and is too operational. «There is
a need to focus on infrastructure, environment, safety and security,
cargo, consumers and the level of playing field».
In the Round Table discussion Emmanuelle Maire from the European Commission said that the aviation package is one of the answers to sector competitiveness. She added that “we cannot change things from one day to the other”.
Paul Steele, Corporate Secretary of IATA, in his turn said that Europe is fully behind from other regions and the thing that worries him is that Europe is looking inwards and not outwards: «we need to get vision, ambition, ability to compete».
In the Round Table discussion Emmanuelle Maire from the European Commission said that the aviation package is one of the answers to sector competitiveness. She added that “we cannot change things from one day to the other”.
Paul Steele, Corporate Secretary of IATA, in his turn said that Europe is fully behind from other regions and the thing that worries him is that Europe is looking inwards and not outwards: «we need to get vision, ambition, ability to compete».
Regarding the issue of airport infrastructure, Athar Husain Khan, AEA CEO, emphasised that there is a significant lack in Europe while EUROCONTROL Director General, Frank Brenner, said that there is a 60% of middle class shift to Asia and China with flights coming in Europe and Europe needs to be ready.
In an intervention Abdul Wahab Teffaha, AACO Secretary General, said that air transport industry never was fair. He added that European Airlines are in the mercy of regulators.
Concluding the roundtable discussion, Dr Kostas Iatrou, Managing Director of Air Transport News, said that European air transport needs a smart regulation, «we are all at the same side and working together we can achieve more» while Andrew Charlton, Managing Director of Aviation Advocacy, said that the industry is a competitive environment and there will always be winners and losers, «we need to find ways to move forward».
