Dubai: Germany has placed its air services agreement (ASA) with the UAE under review over fair competition concerns between the two nations’ airlines.
An ASA allows airlines to operate commercial services between two countries.
“The matter is under discussion and hopefully we will reach an agreement soon,” Saif Mohammad Al Suwaidi, Director General of the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority, told reporters in Dubai, on the sidelines of a GCAA event.
He confirmed that the German federal aviation authority (LBA) called for the review in the fallout over fair competition concerns with Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways.
In September, the LBA announced it was reviewing an existing code-share agreement between Etihad and Germany’s Air Berlin.
Etihad has since received approval to code-share on the upcoming winter schedule; however, Al Suwaidi said no decision had been made by the German regulator on the summer schedule.
According to him, the GCAA should not have to discuss the fair competition clause with the LBA because it has already started discussing it with the European Union, of which Germany is a member.
“We don’t see any possibility of discussing the same that we are discussing with the EU,” Al Suwaidi said. He did not evaluate on what Germany’s concerns were. However, Lufthansa, Germany and Europe’s largest passenger airline, has long objected to the expansion of the Gulf carriers. Lufthansa has argued the Gulf carriers benefit from subsidies and government oil coffers.
The UAE hopes to gain greater access to the German market, which it is currently limited to four destinations; Frankfurt, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Munich, out of the review, Al Suwaidi said.
Neither Etihad nor Emirates is able to operate direct services to Berlin, the German capital, under the current agreement. Etihad, however, is able to gain code-share access through its near 30 per cent ownership in Air Berlin, which flies between Berlin and Abu Dhabi. “They (German regulators) have issues with that (Berlin) airport,” Al Suwaidi said.
