Association of European Airlines

Last updated
Association of European Airlines
Formation1952
Dissolved2016
TypeAirline trade association
HeadquartersBrussels
Location
  • Europe
Membership
25 airlines
President
 Temel Kotil
Website www.aea.be

The Association of European Airlines (AEA) was a trade body that brought together 22 major airlines, and was the voice of the European airline industry for over 60 years. It shut down in the end of 2016. [1]

Contents

AEA worked in partnership with the institutions of the European Union and other stakeholders in the value chain, to ensure the sustainable growth of the European airline industry in a global context. Upon its demise in 2016, AEA Member Airlines carried over 300 million passengers and 4.5 million tonnes of cargo and provided direct employment to 270,000 people. They operated over 8,000 flights a day, serving 530 destinations in 140 countries, with a global turnover of €100 billion. [2]

History

AEA traces its history back to 1952, when the Presidents of Air France, KLM, Sabena and Swissair formed a joint study group, shortly afterwards expanded with the addition of BEA (a forerunner of British Airways) and SAS. In February 1954, the Air Research Bureau (ARB) was established on a permanent basis, in Brussels. The name was subsequently changed to the European Airlines Research Bureau and - in 1973 - the AEA.

Shortly after the ARB was established, the 1954 Strasbourg Conference on the Coordination of Transport in Europe led to the foundation of ECAC and recommended that participating states encourage air carriers to undertake cooperative studies aimed at promoting an orderly development of air transport in Europe. Evidently, the AEA was well placed to be the industry's representative in dialogue with ECAC.

By the time the AEA name was adopted, membership had grown to 19. There were three standing committees: Research and Planning, Airline Industry Affairs, and Technical Affairs, which was formed when a pre-existing industry body (the ’Montparnasse Committee’) was absorbed into AEA.

The next major change took place in 1983 when the (then) Commercial and Aeropolitical Committee was divided, in recognition of the growing involvement of the EU in air transport matters. This involvement was formalised in 1986 when air transport was confirmed as being subject to the single-market process.

In the mid-1980s, the Association acquired permanent groups in the fiscal, security and in-flight services fields. To these was added, in 1991, an Infrastructure Group. Another overhaul occurred in 1994, with the establishment of five standing committees, including Infrastructure & Environment and Social Affairs. Research & Information and legal matters acquired the status of support functions.

In 2002, the AEA Presidents determined that the AEA should become an organisation which provides an industry platform for its members in the EU policy-making environment. To achieve this end, the statutes were amended. One major change was that the Presidents would set annual objectives for the Association. The Presidents’ Committee, enlarged by two additional members to twelve, was given the additional task of monitoring the progress of the association in achieving the set objectives. Furthermore, the Presidents modified the criteria for entry and exit into the association to reflect recent market developments. These far-reaching amendments to the statutes were formally approved in May 2003.

At its shutdown in 2016, AEA had 22 members, the Presidents' Committee was presided by Temel Kotil PhD, CEO of Turkish Airlines. [3] CEO of the Association of European Airlines was Mr Athar Husain Khan.

International Airlines Group companies British Airways and Iberia, [4] as well as Air Berlin [5] announced their departure from the group in April 2015. While Air Berlin has already been a member there, British Airways and Iberia shortly later joined the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA), more inline with its view of the liberalisation of the air transport, notably towards gulf carriers. [6] Alitalia also left the AEA in May 2015 for the same reason. [7] All of these airlines already maintain notable partnerships with gulf carriers.

[8]

Former members

As of January 2016, members of the AEA were: [9]

(OW: Oneworld member; ST: SkyTeam member; SA: Star Alliance member.)

See also

Related Research Articles

Iberia, legally incorporated as Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A. Operadora, Sociedad Unipersonal, is the flag carrier of Spain. Founded in 1927 and based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services from its main base of Madrid–Barajas Airport. Iberia, with Iberia Regional and with Iberia Express, is a part of International Airlines Group. In addition to transporting passengers and freight, Iberia Group carries out related activities, such as aircraft maintenance, handling in airports, IT systems and in-flight catering. Iberia Group airlines fly to over 109 destinations in 39 countries, and a further 90 destinations through code-sharing agreements with other airlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airline alliance</span> Cooperation agreement between two or more airlines

An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare connections within countries. This branding may involve unified aircraft liveries of member aircraft.

SkyTeam is one of the world's three major airline alliances. Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam was the last of the three alliances to be formed, the first two being Star Alliance and Oneworld, respectively. Its annual passenger count is 630 million (2019), the second largest of the three major alliances. As of January 2019, SkyTeam consists of 19 carriers from five continents and operates with the slogan "Caring more about you". It also operates a cargo alliance named SkyTeam Cargo, which partners ten carriers, all of them SkyTeam members. Its centralised management team, SkyTeam Central, is based at the World Trade Center Schiphol Airport on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regional airline</span> Classification of scheduled air carrier

A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North America, most regional airlines are classified as "fee-for-departure" carriers, operating their revenue flights as codeshare services contracted by one or more major airline partners. A number of regional airlines, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, were classified as commuter airlines in the Official Airline Guide (OAG).

Sudan Airways is the national airline of Sudan, headquartered in Khartoum. Since 2012, the company has been fully owned by the Government of Sudan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flag carrier</span> Transport company with preferential status

A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Etihad Airways</span> Flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates; based in Abu Dhabi

Etihad Airways is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates and one of the country's two major airlines. Its head office is in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, near Abu Dhabi International Airport. Etihad commenced operations in November 2003. It is the second-largest airline in the UAE after Emirates. The name Etihad is Arabic for 'Union'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vueling</span> Spanish low-cost airline

Vueling S.A. is a Spanish low-cost airline based at Viladecans in Greater Barcelona with hubs at Barcelona–El Prat Airport (main), Paris-Orly Airport in Paris, France, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy (secondary). It is the largest airline in Spain, measured by fleet size and number of destinations. As of 2021, Vueling serves 122 destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, and carried more than 34 million passengers in 2019. Since 2013, it has been an operating company of International Airlines Group, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia.

Bulgaria Air is the flag carrier airline of Bulgaria, with its headquarters at Sofia Airport in Sofia. The company is owned by Chimimport AD and is a leader in terms of local market share. The airline operates short and medium haul aircraft to destinations in Europe and the Middle East. Focus cities in Bulgaria are Burgas and Varna. In 2018 the company carried a total of 1.267 million passengers on 5,995 flights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niki (airline)</span> Defunct low-cost airline of Austria (2003—2017)

Niki was an Austrian low-cost airline headquartered in Office Park I at Vienna International Airport in Schwechat. It operated scheduled and charter services to European and North African leisure destinations from Vienna, Salzburg, Graz and Innsbruck and also started services from several German airports in March 2017. Niki had a variety of owners, including two stints of ownership under Niki Lauda (1949–2019). In January 2018, the airline was acquired by Lauda, an airline that also had ties to Niki Lauda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TAAG Angola Airlines</span> Flag carrier of Angola

TAAG Angola Airlines E.P. is a state-owned airline and flag carrier of Angola. Based in Luanda, the airline operates domestic services within Angola, medium-haul services in Africa and long-haul services to Brazil, Cuba, and Portugal. The airline was originally set up by the government as DTA – Divisão dos Transportes Aéreos in 1938, rechristened TAAG Angola Airlines in 1973, and gained flag carrier status in 1975. It is now a member of both the International Air Transport Association and the African Airlines Association.

Air Astana is an airline and the flag carrier of Kazakhstan. The airline group is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It operates scheduled international and domestic services across 64 routes from its two hubs; Almaty International Airport, and Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport.

Wings Alliance was the working name of a proposed airline alliance to be anchored by the American carriers Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines of USA with the European flag carriers KLM of the Netherlands and Italy's Alitalia. Although these airlines cooperated with one another through code-sharing and frequent flyer program coordination, no formal association was ever announced. It was rendered superfluous in September 2004 when most of its participants joined the SkyTeam alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darwin Airline</span> Defunct regional airline in Switzerland

Darwin Airline SA was a Swiss regional airline with its head office in Bioggio, Lugano flying under the brand name Adria Airways Switzerland. It operated scheduled domestic and international services in some western European countries. It used the brand name Etihad Regional from January 2014 to July 2017, when Etihad Airways sold its 33% stake to the owner of Adria Airways. It previously also operated flights on behalf of Alitalia. Its bases were Geneva Airport and Lugano Airport.

Cabotage is the transport of goods or passengers between two places in the same country. It originally applied to shipping along coastal routes, port to port, but now applies to aviation, railways, and road transport as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Low Fares Airline Association</span> European trade association

The European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) was an organization formed in 2004 to represent low-cost carriers and lobby European institutions on their behalf. It ceased operations and disbanded in 2016, as major members joined the newly formed trade group Airlines for Europe. ELFAA was based in Brussels, Belgium.

Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia, was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, a Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The airline was owned by the Government of Italy from its founding in 1946 until it was privatized in 2009; after struggling with profitability while a private company, including failed negotiations to sell to other private parties, the Italian government took ownership of the airline in March 2020. The airline operated a fleet of Airbus A319-100, Airbus A320-200, Airbus A321-100, Airbus A330-200, and Boeing 777-200ER aircraft to over 34 scheduled domestic, European and intercontinental destinations. The airline operated from its main hub at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport. The airline was a full member of the SkyTeam alliance, and it had codeshare agreements with 42 airlines. In 2018, the airline was the twelfth-largest airline in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Hogan (businessman)</span> Australian airline executive

James Reginald Hogan, is an Australian airline executive. Between 2006 and mid-2017, he was the President and CEO of Etihad Airways, one of the national airlines of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He was also CEO of Arab Gulf airlines, Gulf Air.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airlines for Europe</span> Trade association of European airlines

Airlines for Europe (A4E) is the largest EU airline association, representing 70% of European air traffic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITA Airways</span> Flag carrier of Italy

Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A., trading as ITA Airways, is the flag carrier of Italy. It is owned by the Government of Italy via the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The airline flies to over 70 scheduled domestic, European, and intercontinental destinations. ITA Airways is a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance with its hub in Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Linate as its focus city.

References

  1. ↑ GmbH, FVW Medien. "Luftverkehr: EU-Airline-Verband löst sich auf". biztravel.de. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  2. ↑ "AEA Key Figures". AEA. Archived from the original on 2013-07-24. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  3. ↑ "Structure". AEA. Archived from the original on 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2015-04-25.
  4. ↑ "Iberia And BA Leave AEA In Clash Over Gulf Carriers". Aviation Week. 2015-04-15.
  5. ↑ "Etihad-backed Air Berlin quits European airlines group over Gulf row". Arabian Business. 2015-04-21.
  6. ↑ "BA and Iberia join budget airline group ELFAA". Business Traveller . 24 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Alitalia out of the AEA". Air Insight. May 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ "AEA's history". AEA. Archived from the original on 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2015-04-25.
  9. ↑ "AEA Member airlines". AEA. Archived from the original on 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.