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ELFAA calls on new Transport Commissioner to revive the spirit of competition

Direct News Source

13-Jan-2010 On the eve of Siim Kallas’s hearing in the European Parliament, the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) is calling on the new Commissioner-designate for Transport to revive the pro-competition course on which the European Union (EU) embarked when it liberalised market access for air transport.

John Hanlon, Secretary-General of ELFAA said: "The liberalisation of market access for air transport helped bring air travel - previously the preserve of a wealthy few - within the reach of millions of EU citizens, thanks to the more efficient low fare carriers which entered the market and introduced dramatically-reduced ticket prices."

However recent years have led to stagnation, with the Commission engaging in re-regulation of aviation - often in response to protectionist calls from legacy incumbent airlines.

"ELFAA urges the Commissioner to stamp out - once and for all - the practice of state aid for ailing national carriers," continued Mr Hanlon.

"In such cases the airlines in question must be permitted to simply exit the market for which they are no longer fit."

ELFAA also strongly encourages the Commissioner-designate to extend to airports and Air Traffic Management the liberalisation it has successfully imposed on airline companies. This would result in a more genuinely competitive environment between airports and - for the first time - introduce competition in the provision of Air Traffic Management services, which remains the prerogative of monopoly suppliers.

Mr Hanlon concluded: "Airports and Air Navigation Service providers represent a significant proportion of airlines' total operating costs, and there is, at present, a serious mismatch between the competitive pressures on airlines and the lack of such demands on their major suppliers."