PDF - Lufthansa Group

Policy Brief 1/2013
Service for decision makers in politics, media and business
1.7
110
Employed
million
475
169
2.0
1.7
Direct effect of the aviation sector
61
Employed
7.8
million
Contribution to GDP
169
2.0
475
billion €
135
Indirect effect through spending and
commissioning by the aviation sector
Induced effect, in particular through the
purchasing power of aviation employees
135
110
0.9
Employment in the aviation sector
and share of EU GDP: 3.2
billion €
0.9
Source: ATAG, 2012
7.8
3.2
Contribution to GDP
61
Additional knock-on effects in tourism
Januar 2013
Lead:
Analyses:
News:
Aviation: European Commission demands fair competition
2
Emissions trading: Distortion of competition harms Europe’s airlines
3
Economic benfits of air transport: Facts and figures for Europe
4
Noise emissions in Frankfurt: Aviation living up to its responsibility
5
Development policy: Air transport helping fight poverty
8
Ground handling services: Another chance for sustainable compromise
“2012 Aviation Night”: Straight talk from the transport minister
EU Consumer Markets Scoreboard: Airlines again ranked
best mode of transport
9
9
Contact: Your point of contact at Lufthansa
9
10
Lead | Analyses | News
Policy Brief 1/2013 | January 2013
Aviation: European Commission
demands fair competition
✈Germal unilateral action – Air travel tax
✈EU unilateral action – Emissions trading
✈Restrictive operating rules, e. g. ban on
The European Commission has recently completed a thorough study of the
situation in the airline industry and come to the conclusion that many European
airlines are struggling for their economic survival. Airlines such as Spanair,
Malev and German Cirrus Air have already gone bankrupt. Polish LOT and
Scandinavian SAS received government aid at the eleventh hour to avert the
same fate. Better framework conditions are urgently needed, especially including rules on fair competition in international air transport. The EU Parliament and
member states are called upon to more actively heed this appeal.
✈Imminent increase in air navigation charges
Dramatic loss of market share
“Toxic Quartet”
German Federal Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer aptly calls the special levies and taxes
a “toxic quartet”:
night flight at Frankfurt hub
x
Air travel ta
Emiss
Operating Rule
s
toxic
n
ions tr
ading
r
in ai
ase harges
e
r
c
c
In tion
a
avig
Despite rising passenger
numbers, European airlines
losing billions
Ensure fair competition
✈2012 Passenger
+2.9
Percent
✈2012 Capacity
+1.5
Percent
✈2012 Earnings result:
–1,3
€ billions
✈2012 EBIT margin:
–1,3
Percent
✈2012 Number of
–17
thousands
✈2008/2009
accumulated results:
–4,1
€ billions
✈
Number of employees
since 2008/2009:
–37
thousands
numbers:
utilisation:
employees:
Europe’s airlines are losing considerable market share. In intercontinental travel,
they represented roughly 30 percent of global capacity in 2003. The European
Commission points out that this share will dwindle by a third by 2025, with the
main factor being dynamic economic growth – and thus disproportionately fastrising mobility – in places outside Europe. At the same time, several countries,
in particular from the Persian Gulf States, have recognised the key strategic role
which aviation plays in their domestic economies and are supporting their stateowned airlines by establishing conditions tailored to the industry. Capacity at
Emirates airline has grown a good sevenfold between 2000 and 2011; at Qatar
Airways, it has even climbed to 21 times its previous level.
Source: Association of European Airlines (AEA), December
2012
Communication of the
European Commission
as download
This aggressive, government-supported growth raises pressing questions relating to competition and sustainability. The global aviation industry does not have
a neutral arbitrator similar to, say, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which
monitors nearly all global industrial sectors to ensure fair trade and competition.
The European Commission is thus rightly pushing for new and effective instruments to ensure fair competition in international air transport and has put
forward the following proposals:
✈ Competition clauses: The EU and third states must enter into agreements
guaranteeing fair and free competition. These accords must be developed,
then established, and also ultimately implemented.
✈Sanctions: The EU is also demanding a “deterrent instrument” against
states and companies that provide illegal subsidies and engage in unfair
trade practices. Any sanctions must be enforceable.
The EU must follow through and advance its efforts to ensure conditions for fair
competition globally in the aviation industry. It is equally important that the EU
and the German Government act in the short term and release their domestic
airlines from special government levies. Such additional taxes distort competition just as much as the airline support programmes of foreign governments.
Page 2
Lead | Analyses | News
Policy Brief 1/2013 | January 2013
Emissions trading: Distortion of
competition harms Europe’s airlines
Gulf States
outstripping Europe
Connecting passengers between the U.S.
and India at hubs by region.
The European Commission has partially suspended the EU Emissions Trading
Scheme until the end of 2013, thereby for now averting a trade war with important air transport nations such as China, India, and the United States. Left out in
the cold, however, are Europe’s network carriers, like Lufthansa, who are placed
at a sharp disadvantage.
Global opposition having an effect
Europe
–23 p.p.
4%
76%
53%
Middle East
34%
Other
13%
21%
2005*
2011
Source: SABRE O&D
The reason for the partial postponement is the vehement opposition of over
40 states, who are against the EU’s unilateral move to implement emissions
trading. In November 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama even legally prohibited U.S. airlines from participating in the EU emissions trading system. The temporary backtracking by the European Commission is now fortunately supposed
to soften the two hardened fronts. In fact, it provides more time for the negotiations taking place at the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to
achieve a globally uniform process for climate protection in aviation.
*inexact due to rounding
EU airlines falling behind
Europe’s hubs come away
empty-handed
Whether it be Lufthansa, Air France/KLM,
Iberia, or Emirates, network carriers bundle
their passengers through feeder flights at their
respective hubs to be able to serve long-haul
routes efficiently. Emissions trading systematically makes flight offers via major European
airports more expensive:
€
€
€
€
€€
Frankfurt
However, the emissions trading system remains intact for flights within the EU.
This means that EU airlines exclusively continue to be asked to pay up, because
state-owned airlines from the Far East or the Persian Gulf States do not even
offer such connections. Also of concern: If the ICAO does not adopt sufficient
steps to implement emissions trading at its general assembly meeting in October 2013, the planned unilateral EU solution is to be revived for all flights taking
off and landing in Europe. The threat of a global confrontation therefore remains.
The German Government has stressed time and again that the EU Emissions
Trading Scheme must be designed to be competition-neutral. The partial postponement of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme does not accomplish this.
To achieve this goal, a comprehensive ICAO solution is indispensable.
Lufthansa
long-haul flight,
e.g. to Far East
Emirates feeder flights
€ = No taxes imposed by EU
€
€
€
Lufthansa feeder flights
€
€
€
Intra-European long-haul feeder flights, say, from
Copenhagen or Hamburg to the Lufthansa hub in Frankfurt, are burdened by the costs of emissions trading,
while feeder flights to hubs outside Europe, for example, to Dubai, are excluded from the system. This leads
to serious distortions of competition in the intercontinental air travel business at the expense of the EU
airlines.
Emirates Zubringerflüge
Bangkok
Emissions Trading Scheme
Emirates
long-haul flights,
e.g. to Far East
€ = Hight taxes imposed by
EU Emissions Trading Scheme
Dubai
Page 3
Beschäftigte
1,7 Mio. Luftfahrt
direkt
3,7 Mio. indirekt
4,6 Mio. induziert
Mio. Tourismus
Policy Brief 1/2013 | January7,8
2013
katalytisch
Beitrag zum BIP
Lead | Analyses | News
Economic benefits of air transport:
Facts and figures for Europe
Luftfahrt 110 Mio.€
direkt
indirekt 245 Mio.€
induziert 306 Mio.€
Tourismus 475 Mio.€
katalytisch
Employment in the aviation sector
and share of EU GDP:
Employed
in millions
Contribution to
GDP in € billions
1.7
169
7.8
An Overview:
110
total:
3.2
2.0
✈Tourism: Tourism is the third largest economic sector within the EU after
total:
475
0.9
Aviation is a key factor in Europe’s success as a business location and an
economic engine for the region. It secures close to 8 million jobs in the European Union: In addition to the 1.7 million workers directly employed in air transport, over 6 million jobs indirectly rely on the industry. Moreover, it contributes
475 billion euros, or roughly 4 percent, to EU economic output.
trade and construction. The sector is of monumental importance particularly to the southern European countries in crisis. In Spain, over 10 percent of
the workforce is employed in tourism. In Portugal and Greece, the figures
are roughly 9 and 7 percent, respectively. Those are top figures which
would be unthinkable without aviation: While worldwide one in every two
travellers reaches his destination by plane, comparable figures for Spain
and Greece, at 77 and 72 percent respectively, are markedly higher – successful destinations depend on a high-performing air transport sector.
135
61
Direct effect of the aviation sector
Indirect effect through spending and
commissioning by the aviation sector
Induced effect, in particular through the
purchasing power of aviation employees
Additional knock-on effects in tourism
✈ Export: In its current labour programme, the European Commission
stresses the importance of aviation to the international competitiveness of
local industry. And rightly so. Particularly high-value high-tech export
products must often reach their buyer markets in a short amount of time.
Measured on the value of the goods, approx. 23 percent of EU overseas
trade is conducted via air cargo. Aviation is thus a major pillar of the export
business. The eurozone foreign trade surplus totalled some 10.2 billion
euros in October 2012, after having recorded a deficit of 0.7 billion euros
in the same month of the previous year.
Source: ATAG, 2012
Farewell to Europe as an
Economic Power?
According to a recent OECD study, Europe is
waning in economic importance. Germany is
most heavily affected by this trend: Its
economy is expected to slip from 5th to 10th
place by 2060.
Share of global GDP
Non-OECD
countries
China
India
Others
USA
Euro Area
28
12
Source: OECD, 2012
Take, for example, SESAR. The aim of this EU technology programme is
to create a system of modern air traffic management, which, among other
things, is designed to significantly help optimize airspace capacity over
Europe. It thus promises to achieve considerable cost-savings. Moreover,
the environment and passengers also benefit from shorter flight times,
generating fewer emissions.
2060
16
17
7
12
15
2030
4
9
14
strengthens Europe’s role as a business location – not least through its
contribution to increasing productivity. The modern division of labour and
performance-enhancing competition at the international level would be
inconceivable without air links – airlines currently offer over 12,000 city connections from European airports.
✈ Innovative strength: Aviation is also an engine of technological progress.
49 % 42 %
18
23
2011
17
12
2030
65 %
18
18
11
7
11
Japan
Others
51 %
17
2011
OECD
countries
58 %
28
35 %
✈Productivity: Also even beyond the export sector, air transport significantly
3
2060
Page 4
Policy Brief 1/2013 | January 2013
Lead | Analyses | News
Noise emissions in Frankfurt:
Aviation living up to its responsibility
Upgrading the 737 fleet
Active noise abatement implemented
by Lufthansa in Frankfurt
The aviation sector is caught in a conflict between the needs of consumers and
the concerns of communities living near airports. On the one hand, air travel is
the only mode of transport that enables long-distance travel in a reasonable
amount of time. It thus contributes immensely to the strength of our society and
furthermore guarantees hundreds of thousands of jobs in Germany alone. On
the other hand, air travel, like other modes of transport, puts a strain on people
and the environment through emissions.
As a global hub, Frankfurt shows that airlines, airports, and air traffic control are
successfully working to live up to societal and environmental obligations. But it
is also clear that the aviation industry and communities must both be willing to
compromise.
“Alliance for More Noise Abatement 2012”
Cuting-edge aircraft –
less noise
Investments are the best noise abatement
measures, as shown below in the reduction
of the noise footprint for takeoff (roughly 85
decibels).
Boeing 747-8i
Maiden flight 2011
In late February 2012, policy makers and the aviation industry agreed on
19 measures to actively reduce noise around the Frankfurt airport. Of those
measures, 12 should be tackled as quickly as possible. Interim results are
already in:
1. Flying more quietly
✈ Fleet renewal: Lufthansa has committed to replace 32 older aircraft
with quieter ones by the end of 2012. That number was achieved across
the Lufthansa Group in 2012, with a total of 39 new airplanes placed in
service. Overall, Lufthansa has ordered 168 new aircraft for a total list
price of 17 billion euros.
✈Modernisation: Lufthansa plans to outfit its Airbus A320 fleets with special
generators to control turbulence. Jet noise is reduced by up to two decibels –
both on approach up to approx. 20 kilometres before the runway, as long
as the landing flaps have not been fully extended, and during the downwind leg. The airline is merely awaiting official authorisation.
✈ Noise surcharges: As planned, the fees for louder aircraft will rise starting
Boeing 747-200
Maiden flight 1970
January 2013, while especially quiet planes will receive rebates. The volume of noise surcharges will grow from 45 million euros in 2011 to roughly
100 million euros in 2013. The volume of fees overall, however, will remain
the same, because weight-related take-off and landing charges will fall.
2. Flying higher
✈ Increase in the altitude of aircraft flying on the downwind legs in the
Source: Boeing
North and South: Aircraft are required to fly about 300 metres higher immediately prior to the final approach. DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH,
the German air navigation service provider, implemented the plan in midOctober.
Page 5
Lead | Analyses | News
Policy Brief 1/2013 | January 2013
929 m
New approach
angle:
3.2°
602 m
870 m
Flying higher
Previous
approach
angle:
292 m
565 m
3.0°
As of mid-October 2012, the approach angle
for the northwest runway was increased by
nearly 7 percent.
275 m
line
ch base
Approa
Frankfurt
Airport
Flörsheim
Hochheim
Mainz
✈ Increase in the altitude of overflights in the East and West: The towns
Download: Information
on Alliance for More
Noise Abatement
of Mainz and Offenbach will experience less noise by aircraft turning into
the final approach later. DFS implemented the plan in the middle of last
October.
✈ Extension of the Instrument Landing System (ILS)/Increase in intermediate approach altitudes: This measure is intended to help enable quieter
final approaches at higher altitudes and farther distances from the airport.
DFS will review implementation of this measure in 2013.
✈ Increase in the approach angle: The approach angle on the new northwest runway is increased from 3 to 3.2 degrees during appropriate weather
conditions. DFS launched a one-year trial phase in mid-October.
✈ Continuous Descent Approach: In this arrival procedure, aircraft descend
with minimal engine thrust, thereby avoiding noisy horizontal flight stages.
Since late May 2012, trial operations have been underway to expand this
procedure, which is already practiced at low-traffic times.
✈ Point Merge: The technique known as the Point Merge System is designed
to help support quieter, but more complex, arrival procedures. DFS wants
to test its effects on airport operations. If the results are positive, the system
is expected to be introduced by 2015.
3. Creating “noise breaks”
✈ „Dedicated Runway Operations (DROps) – Early Morning“: This procedure is supposed to create planable 7-hour “noise breaks” by alternating
takeoff and landing route use every other day between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The measure was implemented in late June 2012.
Page 6
Policy Brief 1/2013 | January 2013
Lead | Analyses | News
4. Intensifying research
Tracking noise
All around Frankfurt, aircraft noise is recorded
and analysed by means of the world’s most
modern monitoring systems. To see these
systems live in action, visit the websites of
Umwelthaus GmbH, which is owned by the
state of Hesse:
✈ Ground noise: Aircraft can be towed between gates and takeoff and landing positions by what are known as “taxi bots” or driven by electronically
powered vehicles (eTaxi). Jet engine noise is thus avoided. Complex, longterm tests will launch starting in March 2013.
✈ Additional landing procedures: Measures for possible noise reduction
through higher-altitude approach angles and better traffic control in the final
approach are to be reviewed. The research contract has been awarded
and initial results are expected in 2013.
✈MODAL: Lufthansa is spearheading the project MODAL as part of the
Aeronautics Research Programme sponsored by the German Ministry of
Economics. The project is aimed at identifying noise sources and improving analysis of active noise abatement measures through more exact calculations.
Passive noise abatement
Passive measures are another pillar of noise abatement. Airport operator
Fraport, the German state of Hesse, and WIBank as the Hessian sponsoring
banking have voluntarily made available 335 million euros for these efforts – in
addition to the 150 million euros mandated for passive noise abatement, which
the airlines are financing through takeoff and landing charges. The monies are
used to purchase real estate whose owners wish to sell due to their special
exposure to the noise. In addition, private households and public facilities are
receiving grants to soundproof their properties.
This overview shows that airlines and airports are keeping their promises and
continuously working together to further reduce noise. The aim is to have an
air transport sector that emits as little noise as possible.
Rule on night flights: Pragmatism urgently needed
Since the end of 2011, no aircraft has been allowed to take off from Frankfurt after 11 p.m., with waivers being granted only
under exceptional circumstances. To allow enough of a buffer, Lufthansa has stretched itself to the limit of what can reasonably be expected from an economic standpoint and, among other things, has moved up its last scheduled departures in
Frankfurt to 10:15 p.m. In return, Frankfurt’s extremely restrictive night flight rule must be interpreted in a more pragmatic
fashion. If an aircraft clearly leaves the gate before 11 p.m., it must be allowed to take off. Otherwise, hundreds of passengers will lose out and have to spend the night in a hotel or even on a cot at the airport – poison for Germany’s reputation
as an aviation centre. The principle of striking a fair balance between business and community interests thus falls by the
wayside.
Page 7
Lead | Analyses | News
Policy Brief 1/2013 | January 2013
Development policy:
Air transport helping fight poverty
The booming region of Africa
Within 15 years, arrivals of international tourists have swelled from 19 to 50 million; spending has more than tripled.
50
tourists in millions
50
40
30
20
10
0
33
19 tourists in millions
U.S. $ billions
8 U.S. $ billions
1995
The United Nations (UN) would like to cut extreme poverty in half worldwide over
the coming years. In this effort, the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)
sees a major role for international tourism, of which air transport is an integral
part.
Tourism as a means to reduce poverty
The travel industry is booming, and developing and newly industrialising countries in particular are recording the highest growth rates. In 2011, Latin America
saw 10 percent more international tourists than in 2010; Sub-Saharan Africa,
7 percent; and the Asia-Pacific region, 6 percent. Such growth brings with it
enormous welfare gains. Tourism revenues for the developing and newly industrialised countries amount to nearly 300 billion U.S. dollars. This figure is more
than double the size of government development aid. For one in every three
developing countries, international tourism now even represents the main
source of foreign currency revenues.
2011
Source: UNWTO
Pioneering role in infrastructure
Lufthansa Group Commitment
Access to air transport links is essential for international tourists even to be able
to reach their destinations in newly industrialising and developing countries.
Moreover, because numerous countries lack sufficiently developed road and
rail networks, an airplane sometimes offers the only connection to other parts
of the country. Those who benefit in particular are local ecotourism service providers, who make undisturbed regions accessible to travellers in a careful and
responsible manner. Air transport thus also helps develop income alternatives
to traditional agriculture.
HelpAlliance Example
Trade and export engine
Source: YouTube
Cargo Human Care Example
Aviation is also crucial to the foreign trade of emerging countries. Take Kenya,
for example. The East African country has been able to evolve into the world’s
largest exporter of flowers, enjoying a market share of 35 percent in Europe
alone. The sector is Kenya’s most important source of revenue after tourism –
and air transport is indispensable to both sectors. The fast transport of goods by
air is key to the success story of the flower export trade. Incidentally, the imported plants put up better carbon emission figures compared with local flowers,
which are produced in costly heated greenhouses – and that includes air cargo
transport over 6,000 kilometres.
Source: YouTube
Page 8
Politikbrief 1/2013 | Januar 2013
Lead | Analyses | News
News
Ground handling services:
Another chance for sustainable
compromise
The EU is engaged in an intense
debate over the planned liberalisation
in ground handling services at airports.
In mid-December, for example, the
European Parliament sent the European Commission’s proposal back
to the transport committee, thereby
revoking its decision in November to
reject the proposal in its entirety. The
referral back to the transport committee now offers the chance for the
aviation industry to find a sustainable
compromise.
It is clear that the states must not proceed according to their own discretion
and, wherever possible, only allow and
promote competition where their own
interests are not involved. Competition must take place not only among
airlines but also among the ground
handling services dominated by the
airports in Germany and Austria. While
already now numerous ground service
providers are available to the airlines
in countries such as Great Britain, Italy,
and Sweden, German airlines can
only select from a maximum of two
providers. According to the European
Commission proposal, the market is
supposed to be opened at least to a
minimum of three providers.
This minimal, further market opening
will hardly lead to the kind of social
dumping prophesized by the opponents of such a move. Already today,
vast portions of the ground handling
market are subject to unlimited com-
petition, and labour and management
are also meeting their responsibility
in these sectors under existing national and EU guidelines. Furthermore,
airlines need strong ground handling
partners who offer their employees
competitive and appropriate conditions. The liberalised airline market
incidentally also shows that fair
competition is good for employees
and travellers alike. There is no reason
why that should be different in groundhandling service sectors.
“2012 Aviation Night”:
Straight talk from the
transport minister
German Federal Transport Minister
Peter Ramsauer is unequivocally
calling for significant relief for the air
transport sector. As the minister put
it in his address at the opening of the
"2012 Aviation Night" event organised by the Association of the German
Aviation Industry, the “toxic triangle” –
consisting of the German air travel tax,
the EU Emissions Trading Scheme,
and restrictive operating times – has
evolved into a "toxic quartet" through
the disproportionately high increase
in air navigation charges introduced
by DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung. The
situation must urgently be remedied so
that Germany can continue to build on
a strong aviation sector also in the future. Airlines and airports stand ready
to support the minister in the battle for
a fair competitive environment – within
the German Cabinet, at the EU in
Brussels, and in the parliaments.
EU Consumer Markets
Scoreboard: Airlines again
ranked best mode of transport
Once a year, the EU surveys consumer satisfaction for 21 goods and
30 services. According to the current
December analysis, air transport ranks
fifth among the services, and this applies both throughout the EU and in
Germany. It is also worth noting that
the aviation industry has thus repeatedly achieved considerably higher
consumer satisfaction than other
modes of transport.
Ranking of modes of transport
among 30 services in Germany
Ranking
Service
5
Aviation
12
Public mass transit
18
Rental cars
29
Railway
Source: EU Consumer Markets Scoreboard, 2012
Peter Ramsauer, Federal Minister of
Transport, at the “2012 Aviation Night”
Page 9
Policy Brief 1/2013 | January 2013
Your point of contact
at Lufthansa:
Jürgen Homeyer
Head of Lufthansa Group
Communications
+49 69 696-3659
konzernkommunikation@dlh.de
Andreas Bartels
Head of Communication
Lufthansa Passage
+49 69 696-60345
andreas.bartels@dlh.de
Imprint
Published by:
Jürgen Homeyer
Head of Lufthansa Group Communications
Christoph Meier
Head of Media Relations
Lufthansa Group
Thomas Kropp
Senior Vice President
Head of Corporate International
Relations and Government Affairs
+49 30 8875-3030
thomas.kropp@dlh.de
Prof. Dr. Regula Dettling-Ott
Vice President EU Affairs
Brussels
+32 2 627-4033
regula.dettling-ott@dlh.de
Dr. Peter Schneckenleitner
Head of Political Communication
Media Relations, Lufthansa Group
+49 30 8875-3070
peter.schneckenleitner@dlh.de
Deutsche Lufthansa AG
FRA CI, Lufthansa Aviation Center
Airportring, D-60546 Frankfurt
Editor in Chief:
Dr. Peter Schneckenleitner
Editorial Staff:
Dr. Horst Bittlinger, Jan Philipp Görtz,
Dr. Karlheinz Haag, Jan-Ole Jacobs,
Bernhard Jung, Gerd Saueressig,
Helmut Tolksdorf, Claudia Walther
Press Date:
January 8, 2013
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