ACI EUROPE has expressed serious concerns over calls to suspend the EU Qatar Comprehensive Aviation Agreement warning of damage to air connectivity consumer choice and the EU’s international credibility. The agreement negotiated by the European Commission with Member State endorsement provides open market access regular consultations and regulatory convergence delivering diversified connectivity benefits across European airports. Qatar Airways seat capacity in Europe for the winter 2025 2026 season remains 10pc below 2019 levels with no evidence of dominant unfair market position.
Director General Olivier Jankovec criticised the proposal as a return to restrictive 1950s frameworks contradicting EU competitiveness goals. He attributed competitive gaps to internal EU policies including taxation insufficient decarbonisation support Single European Sky delays and capacity constraints rather than external agreements. ACI EUROPE urged recognition of aviation as a strategic asset in the EU’s agenda.
Olivier Jankovec shared “There is no question that suspending an existing EU aviation agreement would be damaging for Europe’s airports and the communities and consumers they serve. Debates over the strategy and position of airlines from the Middle East have been dragging on for years and tend to be rather sterile. In fact the widening competitive gap between European airlines and their competitors in other World regions is mainly of the EU’s own making. It is due to inadequate and damaging policies and regulations ranging from taxation and insufficient support for decarbonisation to the failure to deliver the Single European Sky and airport capacity limitations. This only reinforces our call for an EU Aviation Strategy that delivers a much needed aviation policy reset and ensures aviation is recognised and positioned within the EU’s competitiveness agenda. Rolling back an existing EU Comprehensive Aviation Agreement would also harm the EU’s standing internationally. Such a step would potentially take Europe back to the restrictive and anti competitive aviation framework of the 1950s directly contradicting the EU’s own agenda for competitiveness and global positioning.”
