Airline CEOs call for "support and relief"

Regulation "unacceptably burdensome" - AEA

Airline chiefs have branded government regulations "unacceptably burdensome," the Association of European Airlines (AEA) said.

AEA members met in Brussels yesterday (May 28) to discuss the crisis currently facing the aviation industry.

The Association said the impact of the crisis "had not registered with the industry's regulators."

"A programme of costly and needless regulation" was affecting airline operations, the Association claimed.

Ivan Misetic, AEA chairman and president and ceo of Croatia Airlines, said airlines were "not seeking state aid."

"But when the regulators fully realise the implications of the crisis for this industry, for European consumers and for European business, they will recognise that there are areas in which they can provide support and relief," he added.

Ivan Misetic

The AEA welcomed the EU's suspension of the airport 80/20 slot rule for the summer schedule as a "source of operational flexibility".

But Mr Misetic branded the decision not to extend the suspension into winter "inexplicable" as demand during that season is typically lower.

The Association said the assembly of CEOs agreed and urged the issue to be addressed "with the utmost urgency."

Earlier this month the EU chose to temporarily suspend its ‘use it or lose it' airport slot rule forcing airlines.

Airlines this summer no longer risk losing important airport slots for failing to use them at least 80% of the time.

www.aea.be