Airline chiefs want government aid to reduce carbon emissions

[BRUSSELS] Europe's leading airlines renewed calls for state support and legislation to help them decarbonise, arguing that government backing is vital to keep the region competitive during the costly transition to cleaner energy.

The heads of Deutsche Lufthansa, British Airways owner IAG, EasyJet and Ryanair Holdings rattled off a list of familiar requests at the first gathering of the Airlines for Europe industry lobby since the early days of the Covid pandemic, a crisis now superseded by the conflict in Ukraine.

The demands include more support for so-called sustainable aviation fuel, the controversial Corsia carbon-offset scheme, and the Single European Sky project to simplify air-traffic control, cutting fuel burn and emissions by up to 15 per cent.

Action on the wish-list will serve the higher purpose of keeping the cost of flying affordable, and is vital to enhancing competitiveness as the war in Russia and resulting spike in energy costs expose Europe's vulnerability to outside forces, Lufthansa chief executive officer Carsten Spohr said.

"As Europeans, we're not able to defend ourselves anymore, we're not able to provide our own energy anymore," he said on a panel. "Let's at least make sure we can connect ourselves."

Air-traffic control caused 90 per cent of delays at Ryanair in the past year, lengthening flights and boosting emissions, CEO Michael O'Leary said, adding: "We cannot at a time when oil prices are at record highs continue to waste fuel."

European Union Transport Commissioner Adina-Ioana Valean said the single-sky plan should be one of the easiest steps toward reducing emissions, but is being frustrated by air-traffic management authorities reluctant to embrace change and governments that are "not courageous enough" to push it through.

"It makes so much sense," she said. "I'm still amazed how it's possible that the government transport ministers do not recognise that and put it in place." Spohr said concerns emerging from Russia's invasion of Ukraine may act as a further deterrent to the surrender of nation-based air-traffic control networks.

"I'm afraid with Ukraine the issue of protecting your own airspace and the military playing a bigger role might make it more difficult rather than easier," he said. Airlines need to stress how much the proposed change could contribute to decarbonisation in order to push it up the agenda, he said.

Production of sustainable aviation fuels can be scaled up but not to the level that's required, the Lufthsansa chief said.

EasyJet CEO Johan Lundgren said there needs to be more direct government investment in SAF production to make its use viable, asking: "If you transfer costs of SAF into ticket costs, who's going to fly?" BLOOMBERG