Doha
Qatar Airways chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, accused the European authorities on Monday of double standards when it comes to state aid and investment in airlines.
“It’s a disgrace on them to talk on us when in their own backyard they see airlines getting state aid,” he said, speaking at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual meet in Doha.
Earlier this week, Etihad Airways signalled its intent to move forward with a potential investment in troubled Italian national carrier, Alitalia, by announcing that it is sending letter of criteria for the investment to the airline’s board.
But foreign holding in European airlines has come under staunch criticism from rival carriers such as Lufthansa. The European Commission is currently looking into foreign holdings in a number of European airlines including Etihad’s shareholding in Germany’s Air Berlin.
“They’ve [Alitalia] found someone willing to invest in them and they [Etihad] believe it will pay off. I don’t share that view,” said, Willie Wash, chief executive of the International Airlines Group (IAG), parent company of British Airways.
However, Al Baker quickly interjected and said the European Commission used the state aid argument as an excuse to stop “people that they don’t like” while allowing it with their own airlines.
He added that state aid was not an issue with investments from the major Gulf airlines including Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways because their governments are their sole shareholders.
