Air traffic in Europe: planes are increasingly in distress

Air Berlin, Germania, Thomas Cook, European air traffic is organized. The small Airlines are rubbed between the major airlines and low cost airlines.

By Günter Marks, tagesschau.de

a Little more than it took a year after the Bankruptcy of Air Berlin, until, with the Germania, the German airline became insolvent. Now, the British tourism group Thomas Cook announced that his Airline division of the German Condor. The European market for air transport operators are organized.

The Hamburg-based aviation expert and PR entrepreneur, Cord Schellenberg said in an Interview with tagesschau.de that the small provider reaming would planes between the major airlines and the so-called cheap. For years a hard the consolidation taking place in the market.

Cord Schellenberg, a air travel expert and PR-entrepreneur: "A certain clientele don't look at this travel to the last Euro." This is the attractive Segment.

competitors will fight each other or get married

"have done, The established Airlines such as Lufthansa and British Airways, very much to fight competitors or to marry, or in the family," said Schellenberg. But also low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet are becoming greater and greater.

Ryanair took over from the bankruptcy estate of the formerly second largest German airline Air Berlin, some of the planes. Meanwhile, the Irish Low-Cost Carrier founded in Poland, a holiday airline. Easyjet founded a subsidiary in Austria and transferred at the end of January 130 of his 318 Airbus aircraft to the new location.

on the one Hand, the two companies want to avoid due to the relocation of the logistics and the bound licences for the Launching and Landing in the EU, a possible Chaos after the Brexit. On the other hand, the actions are according to Schellenberg clear sign that you are growing in the area.

Four percent more passengers

"The competition in the international air traffic remains intense," said the President of the Federal Association of the German air traffic economy (BDL), Klaus-Dieter Scheurle, now after the Germania-insolvency. The German airports had counted with 244 million passengers last year, four percent more passengers than in 2017. In Europe the passenger to pay more - by six per cent. The BDL expects a lot of failures and delays of flights in holiday periods - similar to last year.

"We must expect that in the summer of 2019 will be difficult," said Scheurle. As reasons for the delays in the last year BDL-managing Director Matthias von Randow, among other things, bottlenecks in the European air traffic control room, strikes called, a lot of Thunderstorms. But also the Integration of the previous bankrupt Air Berlin had not gone fast enough.

The Bust of Germania will have according to the industry estimate, however, in the long term, probably not have a negative impact on the flight range. Due to the market regulations, shortages would be compensated quickly, as the BDL. "Germania was to be 30 years very successfully with its own specific business model: low cost structure, simple short distances and planes can be used, both of Germania, as well as on the leasing market," said Schellenberg. At the end was for the company, however, the capital ceiling is too thin and the competition have been great.

Germania-Desk at the airport of Münster/Osnabrück. The Bust of Germania is in the long term, have no negative effects on the entire flight range.