BRUSSELS, Oct 16 (Reuters) - European airlines urged
Brussels on Wednesday to do more to secure a level playing field
in the industry, complaining that Chinese rivals enjoy a huge
cost advantage because they can fly over Russia and do not face
extra environmental costs.
Action is all the more important because many carriers are
also facing delivery delays as planemakers Airbus and
Boeing ( BA ) struggle with supply chain problems and, in
Boeing's ( BA ) case, industrial action, the airlines said.
At an industry meeting in Brussels, Lufthansa CEO Carsten
Spohr said all flights into Europe should be required to avoid
Russian airspace to ensure fair competition.
"We are not allowed to cross Russia but Chinese carriers
are. If you want a level playing field, we need to ensure any
airline landing in Europe avoids Russian airspace. Until that
happens there will be enormous advantages to Chinese carriers,"
he said.
He also said that Chinese airlines did not have costs
related to Europe's emissions trading system, describing that as
another "financial advantage".
Airlines also lamented the uncertainty caused by aircraft
delivery delays, although budget carrier Ryanair noted
the capacity constraints would be good for ticket pricing.
Ryanair group CEO Michael O'Leary said the company would be
doing well if it got 10 or 15 aircraft from Boeing ( BA ) after March
next year, instead of the expected 30.
He earlier told Reuters that Ryanair would have to cut its
passenger traffic estimates for next year because of expected
delivery delays.
Air France-KLM said it was impacted by Pratt &
Whitney engine issues with its Airbus A220 orders, while
Lufthansa said it had never seen delays like those for
the Boeing 777X, adding they had reached around five years.