European airline leaders call for regulatory change and a 'level playing field'

A number of European airline chief executives - both legacy and low cost - have recently turned to the media to express disgruntlement with aviation's treatment by Europe's leaders and regulators.

Carsten Spohr and Benjamin Smith - respectively, the heads of Lufthansa Group and Air France-KLM - gave an unprecedented joint interview to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Les Echos to call for a "level playing field". They compared slow growth by Europe's leading network airlines with the rapid expansion of super-connectors based in the Gulf and Türkiye.

Wizz Air CEO József Váradi told the Financial Times that Europe's policymakers were ignoring air travel's potential to contribute to growth, putting the continent's airlines at a disadvantage to rivals in the Gulf.

Hardly a week goes by without Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary criticising EU and national leaders over some aspect of aviation regulations, including bag charges, aviation taxes, green fuel costs and air traffic control.