Euroland: EU will tell airlines they should become “community carriers”
The days of the “flag-carrier” airline could be over soon if EU plans to allow international aviation mergers are adopted.
As part of attempts to create a truly unrestricted market within the European aviation industry, the EU will tomorrow tell members that airlines should be recognised as “community carriers” rather than “national carriers”, according to The Times.
This move will “unblock consolidation within the airline industry by removing existing provisions that discriminate on the basis of nationality”. The move will no doubt have its supporters; the BA chief executive Rod Eddington recently stated that consolidation between airlines worldwide is essential, and also dropped hints that BA would be interested in a tie-up with the Spanish carrier Iberia, if the rules allowed it.
“Nationality clauses” have a history of interfering with proposed deals within the industry; in 1998 a proposed merger between BA and KLM was cancelled because neither carrier could be clear if it would retain flying rights in both the UK and the Netherlands.
