Watch: Malta Air CEO Delves Into EU Climate Politics Which Could See Island Suffer From Fewer Flights
An EU climate change plan to tax aviation fuel will ultimately benefit European flag carriers while punishing countries like Malta, the CEO of low-cost airline Malta Air has warned.
In a new interview with Lovin Malta, David O’ Brien didn’t mince his words, stating the ‘Fit For 55’ plan will result in a “significant reduction” of direct flights to Malta by encouraging people to travel through major European hubs like Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Paris.
As part of its plan to go climate neutral by 2050, the EU has proposed a progressive tax on aviation fuel for intra-EU flights, which will see costs rise by an estimated 90% by 2033 and flight costs increase by an estimated €65.
Although the scheme has been pitched as a way to clamp down on greenhouse gas emissions, O’ Brien warned that it is actually an attempt by major airlines like Lufthansa, Air France and KLM to harm their competitors – such as Malta Air – which only fly to EU countries.
Essentially, while some airlines will be able to cross-subsidise their short-haul flights with revenues from tax-exempted long-haul routes, others will have no other option but to raise their flight prices or cut certain routes.
The ultimate goal, O’Brien argued, is to clamp down on point-to-point flights and direct all air traffic on the continent through major hubs.
“Although 52% of European airlines emissions are generated by long-haul flights, long-haul has been excluded from the Fit for 55 plan,” O’Brien said
“Why? The answer is that Lufthansa, Air France and KLM make most of their money from long-haul. Their ambitions are to channel everyone in Europe through Europe, Paris or Amsterdam. Frans Timmermans, the EU Commissioner responsible for this package, is Dutch but he has nothing to say about the fact that 80% of air traffic in Amsterdam delivered by KLM will be unaffected by his tax.”
“No one wants to touch those three airlines, and Germany and France are obviously the biggest noises in Europe.”
Malta has resisted the plans, and Air Malta has made similar arguments to those posed by Malta Air.
“Air Malta operates to and from Malta, a small island Member State on the periphery of the EU, that is dependent on air transport for the free movement of its people to the rest of the EU. A tax on aviation fuel will not result in a modal shift to another mode of transport but will merely have a negative impact on the Maltese Island’s economic and social cohesion while isolating the Islands,” the Maltese flag carrier said last August.
O’Brien urged the Maltese authorities to resist these plans on a matter of principle and not accept EU compromises that would exempt aviation fuel taxes for flights to Malta.
“I would caution the Maltese body poltiic not to allow the Dutch, Germans or French to treat Malta like some kind of little islanders and offer them trinkets and baubles,” he said.
“For example, I could predict that the EU, or rather Germany and France, will offer Malta exemptions on flights to Malta with respect to these taxes. But that won’t help Malta in the long run because it’s actually an attack on point-to-point, the most efficient aviation model – flights from A to B rather than half-empty flights going from A to C to B.”
O’Brien said Malta Air intends to assemble a coalition of like-minded EU countries, such as Malta, Cyprus and Ireland, so they can have sovereign voices backing them up.
“Lufthansa has Germany, Air France has France, KLM has France too as part of the KLM-Air France group. It’s important that peripheral countries aren’t picked off with trinkets and baubles like little islanders, like Thomas Cook.”
“I was at a conference recently and someone said we need to go to Brussels and tell them that Malta, as an island nation, relies on aviation. However, they know that in Brussels, they just don’t care, so we need to get together.”
He said that Ryanair, which owns Malta Air, already pays more taxes than the likes of Lufthansa and Air France, is investing heavily in airlines which burn less fuel and emit less noise, and will back targets for airlines to shift to synthetic aviation fuel.
Cover photo: Main photo: A Malta Air flight (Photo: Ryanair)
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