Brussels, 20/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - Europe seems to have lost the battle with the Gulf when it comes to air connectivity. The three busiest hubs offering international connections with other regions of the world are now Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha. Ten years ago, the airports of London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Paris Charles de Gaulle dominated this sector, far outstripping the Gulf states. However, since 2004, the European hubs have lost 10% of their market share for indirect connections outside Europe, according to a study carried out by the Airports Council International Europe, ACI EUROPE, which was presented to the general meeting of the association on 17 June.
“Connectivity cannot be taken for granted”, commented Arnaud Feist, President of ACI-Europe. “Our report shows that Europe is being bypassed as an aviation hub and is no longer the significant player in providing global connectivity”, he adds. This observation should be a wake-up call to the European governments and European institutions, Feist concludes.
The European response should be to develop its own agenda for air connectivity. The European airports argue firstly for the growing problem of airport capacity to be resolved without delay (around 20 major European airports will be over-congested by 2035). Secondly, they call for bilateral aviation agreements to be replaced with European agreements with the BRICS and MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) blocs and with the countries of ASEAN as a priority. And lastly, they would like to see a political agenda for European aviation which aims to cut red tape, particularly in terms of security. (MD)