Airlines

IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani has vented frustration at the pace of European airspace and air traffic management reform, and the expenses airlines are shouldering as a result.

Speaking during its recent annual general meeting in Paris, Bisignani criticised the Single European Sky airspace unification initiative, putting the cost of inefficiency to airlines at $3.4 billion. “That’s the cost of 35 [air navigation service] providers when one could do the job,” he says. “It’s a singular European embarrassment. Twenty years of discussion – and we are still discussing.”

Bisignani continued his attack on airport charges, adding a swipe at US New York gateway Newark to the recent fight in France over fees at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. He claimed Newark is the world’s most expensive airport: “There is no excuse for being about 60% more expensive than Chicago O’Hare. Politics, not business, is driving the airport’s management. I wish I could be positive about airports, but too many still hide behind their monopoly position,” he added.

European transport commissioner Jacques Barrot, in a keynote address to the meeting, said the Commission took the airline’s concerns “very seriously”. He said: “There must be significant consultation over fees and we must improve transparency regarding these.” ■