The bosses of top airlines have urged the European Union to urgently tackle airspace reform as part of a range of priorities for the next five years.
The chief executive members of trade association Airlines for Europe (A4E) met in Brussels to call on policymakers to focus on reinforcing the competitiveness of airlines.
The most pressing challenges facing the sector were outlined for the new EU term as including the urgent need to reform Europe’s “outdated and fragmented” airspace “to ensure it is fit for today and the future”.
This would save up to 10% of emissions, the equivalent of 90 million tonnes of CO2 over the term of the European Parliament.
A4E, which includes Ryanair, British Airways and Aer Lingus owner International Airlines Group, Easyjet and Jet2.com, also called for €61 billion in investment in the decarbonisation of aviation between 2030-50.
They also want to see to the production Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) to be ramped up to reduce costs.
“Bringing down the price gap between SAFs and conventional jet fuel will be essential to ensure that the sector meets its ambitious climate goals while remaining globally competitive,” A4E noted.
A4E chair and Ryanair group chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “The next EU term must be focused on delivery.
“Policymakers must be bold and deliver the reforms Europe is crying out for to ensure it remains a region that is competitive and innovative and most importantly, so aviation is able to deliver for Europeans in the years to come.”
A4E managing director Ourania Georgoutsakou added: “We are clear on the most pressing areas for action – from airspace reform to sustainability, ensuring a level playing field and completing the single market will be essential to maintaining a competitive European airline industry.
“Expectations are high for decisive action over the next five years, and we are ready to work with the EU to make important progress.”
Meanwhile, O’Leary was reported at the meeting to have warned that the likely delay of aircraft deliveries from strike-hit Boeing will constrain Ryanair’s growth next year due to uncertainty over the arrival of 30 B737s between March and June.
“We were supposed to get 20 deliveries before the end of December. They’ll probably come now in January and February, and that’s fine. We’ll have them in time for next summer.
“The big issue for Ryanair is we’re due 30 aircraft in March, April, May and June of next year, and how many of those will we get?” O’Leary told The Times.
“I think we’re clearly going to walk back our traffic growth for next year, because I don’t think we’re going to get all those 30 aircraft.”
He added: “We want to avoid next year what we had this year. We had geared up, we crewed up the 50 aircraft, and then we only got 30 … we were overcrowded, over-staffed. We took a significant cost penalty this year.”
O’Leary is due to meet Boeing chief executive Kelly Ortberg to discuss the problems.