Slim20
12th Apr 2004, 09:18
From Air & Business Travel News www.abtn.co.uk
"At a press conference in the French capital, easyJet chief executive Ray Webster launched a campaign to raise awareness for what he perceives as a raw deal suffered by French air travellers and called for a number of substantial changes to be made in order to increase airline competition and decrease airfares in France.
"Mr Webster noted that budget airlines account for only 4% of French domestic air travel, compared to 42% in the UK; 18% in Germany and 14% in Italy. Low-cost airlines have a presence on 20% of intra-EU routes from France, compared to 39% from the UK and 30% from Italy. Only 9% of air travellers leaving Paris for other destination in the EU travel on low-cost airlines, compared to 39% from Berlin, 38% from Dublin, and 35% from London.
"He points out that Aeroports de Paris, which controls the two main Paris airports, insists upon charging airlines exactly the same terminal charge for using the second rate and poorly linked Terminal 3 as for Terminal 2, a superb edifice, fully integrated into the Paris Metro network and even Eurostar. This represents an extraordinary cross-subsidy from the passengers of low-cost airlines to the likes of Air France.
"To get a better deal for the consumer easyJet is calling for a capacity freeze to be imposed on Air France at Charles de Gaulle and Orly, at the current levels, to restrict further anti-competitive growth; A change to the constitution of COHOR to make it truly independent from Air France; and an increase in the number of slots to be allocated at Orly."
And we just thought he spent his days counting his share options and making our lives difficult! It's nice to see him trying, but I'm sure the French Government will be wringing their hands in shame and hurrying to dismantle these obstacles to free trade within the EU....
"At a press conference in the French capital, easyJet chief executive Ray Webster launched a campaign to raise awareness for what he perceives as a raw deal suffered by French air travellers and called for a number of substantial changes to be made in order to increase airline competition and decrease airfares in France.
"Mr Webster noted that budget airlines account for only 4% of French domestic air travel, compared to 42% in the UK; 18% in Germany and 14% in Italy. Low-cost airlines have a presence on 20% of intra-EU routes from France, compared to 39% from the UK and 30% from Italy. Only 9% of air travellers leaving Paris for other destination in the EU travel on low-cost airlines, compared to 39% from Berlin, 38% from Dublin, and 35% from London.
"He points out that Aeroports de Paris, which controls the two main Paris airports, insists upon charging airlines exactly the same terminal charge for using the second rate and poorly linked Terminal 3 as for Terminal 2, a superb edifice, fully integrated into the Paris Metro network and even Eurostar. This represents an extraordinary cross-subsidy from the passengers of low-cost airlines to the likes of Air France.
"To get a better deal for the consumer easyJet is calling for a capacity freeze to be imposed on Air France at Charles de Gaulle and Orly, at the current levels, to restrict further anti-competitive growth; A change to the constitution of COHOR to make it truly independent from Air France; and an increase in the number of slots to be allocated at Orly."
And we just thought he spent his days counting his share options and making our lives difficult! It's nice to see him trying, but I'm sure the French Government will be wringing their hands in shame and hurrying to dismantle these obstacles to free trade within the EU....