Qatar Airways boss Akbar Al Baker has accused European airlines of being “inefficient” and protected by EU policies.
The often outspoken airline chief responded to the legacy carriers that complain of unfair competition from Gulf carriers, saying they were “screaming about the Gulf Three”, referring to Qatar, Dubai’s Emirates and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad.
“There is enough business… They are inefficient,” he was quoted as saying by AFP.
European airlines, particularly Air France-KLM, have complained that Gulf-based companies have been able to claim significant slices of the global air travel market because of government support that includes hefty loans, gas subsidies, low tax and cut-price airport access fees.
But Al Baker said workers’ unions were the cause of problems faced by legacy carriers, not Gulf airlines.
“It is the unions that should be blamed,” he said.
Al Baker said European countries intervened far more than the US to protect home carriers. “EU without doubt,” he said, naming France and Germany in particular.
“We have problems in France, Germany, the Netherlands and elsewhere… Stirred by two individual countries: Germany and France,” he said.
Air France-KLM has a limited codeshare agreement with Etihad and chairman Alexandre de Juniac said in May the airlines were in talks to deepen those ties.
However, de Juniac, who has been one of the most vocal critics of Gulf carriers’, also called for “caution” when giving them additional landing rights in Europe.
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