Adapting to a changing world

Air travel in Europe has become a victim of its own success.

Until the 1990s, air travel in Europe was dominated by national airlines, not all of them profitable, and airspace was constrained by a patchwork of national jurisdictions. The European Commission campaigned against the use of state aid to prop up unprofitable airlines and pressed for consolidation between companies. At the same time it urged member states to free up airspace and create a ‘single sky’. The growth of low-cost airlines has expanded the market in air travel enormously, bringing in new customers, new airports and even new economic models for developing regions.

But the rate of expansion has given rise to regulatory concerns. There are fears of imminent constraints on capacity, whether in the air or on the ground, which in turn have triggered arguments about who should foot the bill for improving airport and air traffic infrastructure. The threat of terrorist attacks has obliged airlines and airports to tighten security measures, which militate against the easier, faster travel that passengers have come to expect. Those passengers, who now regard air travel as a routine experience, demand similar commercial rights to those that they enjoy with other forms of transport. The greater air traffic has been accompanied by escalating concern about climate change, intensifying calls for the airline industry to be held to account for its greenhouse gas emissions.

So across a range of issues, explored in this special report, the European Union faces the challenge of adapting the regulation of air travel to a rapidly changing world.

Air travel in Europe has become a victim of its own success.