Sober second thought has an amazing way of changing attitudes — particular when there’s millions of dollars in business involved. Take, for example, a recent musing by Brigitte Zypries, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, who coordinates Germany’s aviation and aerospace policy. Zypries became the first senior German lawmaker to publicly suggest that Lufthansa may be better off becoming a partner with a Gulf airline than fighting expansion by competitors from the region — namely Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, Dubai-based Emirates, and Doha-based Qatar.
Her thinking also runs counter to that of Lufthansa chief executive officer Carsten Spohr, who agrees with the general view of those in similar positions across Europe that the Gulf carriers somehow benefit from favourable regulatory environments and subsidies from their national governments. That’s an argument that the Gulf carriers fundamentally reject and have each issued detailed statements to show that European airlines — and indeed American — are misguided, misinformed and misdirected. How convenient that these EU and US carriers should forget that they have all received funding from governments in a time when airlines were national extensions of transport policy.
Only the British-based IAG group, which operates British Airways and Iberia, has come to a realistic accommodation and partnership alliance with Qatar — and Zypries’ comments seem to suggest that it’s time other European carriers found a way to work with, rather than against, the Gulf carriers.
No sooner was the ink dry on the German minister’s words than more musings came from Eurocrats in Brussels that they would like to open discussions with the UAE, Qatar and Turkey — whose Turkish Airlines is also biting into the EU carriers — on the topic of pursuing air traffic agreements.
Last December, the EU had asked for permission from the member states to talk about open skies with non-EU nations. Previously, it was up to each member of the 28-nation bloc to work out their own open skies agreements. Europe’s aviation industry is worth a combined €110 billion (Dh451 billion) and the Gulf carriers have started to bite into that share.
Let’s be clear on this. It’s a wise move that the EU will take responsibility for discussing open skies — there are too many separate national interests at stake for anything else to be politically and economically realistic. Gulf carriers and Gulf governments have always backed open skies — and any and all competition is welcome. At the end of the day, passengers fly based on comfort, price and schedules. And that’s the real reason why European carriers are losing out.
