- Comprehensive European aviation strategy needed combining competitiveness, simplification and growth
- European airlines’ market share connecting Europe with Asia fell by one-third in 20 years
- Istanbul passed London Heathrow in connectivity during 2025
- Three priorities identified: global competitiveness, strong hubs and competitive decarbonisation
- Fit for 55 needs to be competition-neutral with scaled-up SAF supplies
Carsten Spohr of Lufthansa is calling for a comprehensive European aviation strategy that combines competitiveness, simplification and growth. The Brussels briefing has heard that European airlines remain among the top players globally unlike many other industries. Aviation creates multiplying effects on other parts of the economy and cannot be replaced by other industries.
Spohr shared that traffic flows were already shifting with European airlines’ market share connecting Europe non-stop with Asia falling by about one-third in 20 years. He shared that Istanbul passed London Heathrow in connectivity during 2025. Direct flights have direct impact on GDP growth and jobs.
The briefing heard that three priorities were identified for the aviation strategy. Airlines must compete globally which requires aligning aviation policy with global standards including CORSIA. Europe needs strong airlines and hubs to connect with global markets as part of strategic autonomy. A competitive path to decarbonisation was required with climate policies that reduce emissions rather than shifting traffic outside Europe. Spohr shared that Fit for 55 needed to be competition-neutral and SAF supplies required scaling up with lower costs.
Carsten Spohr shared: Europe now finally needs a real aviation strategy and the need for that strategy really is twofold. On the one hand, for us as an industry where we are proud to say that we are still an industry where the European players are playing among the top players in the world, which obviously is not the case anymore for many, many other industries. In our industry, we do. We’d like to stay there. But maybe more important for European voters, European politicians, European companies is our multiplying effect we have on other parts of the economy. because obviously aviation is not irreplaceable and the role we play cannot be replaced by other industries per se. So with that in mind, it’s obvious that aviation is a global business.
I think we’re all aware of that and it’s also no secret that many of our competitors outside of Europe enjoy strong political support be it to create hubs or even to create airlines to make those airlines grow and competitive. So that’s not a secret and we in Europe obviously don’t want and don’t dream of the same level of support but at least we cannot cope with headwinds putting us further down in that unlevel playing field. It’s also no surprise and hopefully no secret anymore that traffic flows are already shifting.
The market share of European airlines connecting Europe non-stop with Asia has come down by about one third in the last 20 years and it’s further going down. That obviously has an effect again not only in our industry but much more on Europe being connected to that part of the world where we do know that direct flights as shown on this chart have a direct impact on GDP growth and on jobs. Another example is the fact that this year Istanbul passed our largest airport in Europe, London Heathrow, in terms of connectivity. So these are not only you know whatever please for support or typical lobbying complaints from industry players like us.
There are facts backing up that problem which we are trying to point out. And it is also fair to say that Europe for many many decays was a forefront of global aviation when it comes to connectivity [clears throat]when it comes to affordability which Michael O’Leary always points out it is more affordable within Europe to travel and maybe that’s not so important for in Brussels in Frankfurt in Amsterdam but if you live in the Baltics if you live in Portugal if you live in Ireland it does matter or on the Greek islands it does matter to you that aviation has been such a success story. So how do we keep that at least on the right track or bring it back to the right track where the where mistakes have been made? This comprehensive aviation strategy can only work when it is let’s say I’m combining various elements. So it needs to combine competitiveness. It needs to combine simplification. It needs to combine growth. And these are all three words I took from the state of the union address of President Fonda line.
So this is nothing we want for our industry. something which we need for Europe that integrated approach which we need needs to particular take into account the climate policy because by now the SAF quarter and ETSs have become as pointed out by Louie a primary cost driver and if you take that into the next decade eventually it will kill European airlines if it’s not changed so what has to happen we see three priorities I’ like to finish with that first obviously we need airlines which can compete globally which requires us to align the aviation policy with global standards. Corsia is there. We are the only global industry which has a global mechanism to reduce emissions. Let’s use it also we as Europeans. We also urgently need a competitiveness check for aviation legislation.
Too many things don’t help anybody for sure not our passengers and in overall we need to reduce the regulatory burden and of course the compliance cost. Second, the Middle East crisis showed once again that Europe needs strong airlines and needs strong hubs within Europe to connect ourselves to our global markets and not to rely on others. It is part of the EU strategic autonomy which we are talking about so much since the last years and even more of the last months. And this connectivity again is not only a question of sovereignity. It also creates value as shown on this chart in terms of jobs and GDP growth. And last but not least, also mentioned by my colleagues before, we need a competitive path to decarbonization.
We need climate policies but actually reduce emissions and not only shift them to outside of Europe by shifting traffic to outside of Europe. So we need to make um for 55 competition neutral. need to scale up SAR supplies and lower the SF cost as pointed out by Luis and again this finally has to happen twofold for our industry to maintain in the top league in this if I may say probably fastest growing industry outside of it or the other way around fastest growing real economy industry there is in the world is aviation we are as Europeans on top of them let’s stay there but also Europe per needs to put this strategy of prog growth, pro competitiveness, pro connectivity into action and it’s time to do that now and not wait any longer.
