All Articles

Europe's competition regime is throttling the consolidation its airlines say they need to compete globally, IAG chief executive Luis Gallego has warned, just days before a deadline that could decide the fate of easyJet. Gallego told the Financial Times that European merger rules make a possible bid for the budget carrier very difficult, while leaving the door ajar to a deal. He said the group is open to everything, not only easyJet, arguing that European aviation must consoli

Ryanair passengers were stranded in Greece after their UK-bound flight left without them as airports grapple with passport control delays. The flight from Athens International Airport to London Luton on Sunday reportedly left without 20 to 50 passengers, some of whom became visibly angry, prompting airport authorities to step in, the BBC has been told. It is the latest incident since the EU's Entry Exit System (EES) was brought in to track when non-EU citizens enter or leave

The European Parliament has voted to improve airline passenger rights for compensation, seating fees and hand luggage, making fares more transparent and maintaining the threshold for financial protection. The provisional agreement was reached on Monday and will be confirmed by both the European Parliament and the Council within the next six to eight weeks. It is the first time airline passenger rights have been updated in Europe since 2004, when Regulation EU261 was written i

Europe's regional carriers are bracing for a wave of consolidation, as tightening regulation and climbing overheads threaten to render the independent operator model unsustainable across much of the continent. Analysis presented by advisory firm IBA this week identified European policy, rather than market demand, as the principal long-term risk to regional business models. The combination of revised EU261 passenger compensation rules, the rising cost of Emissions Trading Syst

Airbus has moved to salvage Europe's next-generation combat aircraft ambitions, unveiling an eight-strong German industrial alliance dubbed Team Gen 6 just days after Berlin and Paris abandoned the fighter element of the Future Combat Air System, the continent's flagship defence programme. The consortium was launched on 11 June at the ILA Berlin Air Show, where Airbus Defence and Space and seven German firms, among them Diehl Defence, Hensoldt, MTU Aero Engines and Rohde and

Europe's most ambitious defence venture is in ruins. The Future Combat Air System, the sixth-generation fighter programme that was meant to anchor the continent's air superiority into the second half of the century, was formally abandoned on 8 June after Berlin and Paris concluded that their industrial champions could not be reconciled. The roughly €100 billion project to develop a fully European next-generation fighter jet has been scrapped, ending an initiative launched wit

Germany and France have scrapped the joint manned fighter at the heart of the Future Combat Air System, ending nine years of cooperation on what was meant to be Europe's flagship sixth-generation combat aircraft and dealing a blow to the continent's ambitions for strategic autonomy. Chancellor Friedrich Merz informed President Emmanuel Macron that the two countries would not proceed with a shared aircraft, conveying the decision on the sidelines of the EU Western Balkans summ

Switzerland may be compelled to keep Cold War-era jets aloft well into the next decade, as cost overruns on its Lockheed Martin F-35A programme threaten to open a gap in the protection of Alpine airspace, a predicament being watched closely by Europe's own combat-aircraft makers. Lawmakers are pushing a measure that would task the government with examining a temporary continuation of F-5 Tiger operations until the end of 2030 and an extended service life for the F/A-18 fleet

Airbus has flown the world's longest-range airliner for the first time, sending the A350-1000ULR aloft from Toulouse in a milestone that underlines European aerospace's grip on the most demanding end of commercial aviation. The aircraft, designated MSN 707, took off from Toulouse-Blagnac on 2 June and flew for three hours and 43 minutes, reaching just above 41,000 feet. A dedicated Airbus test crew ran general performance checks and trialled the jet's reworked fuel system, th

European airlines are entering the peak travel season under acute fuel-cost pressure, with carriers cutting schedules, lifting fares and turning to governments for relief as Middle East supply disruptions tighten kerosene availability across the continent. The International Air Transport Association warned that European carriers could begin cancelling flights as early as late May, with constrained fuel availability threatening summer schedules and forcing airlines, airports a

European air connectivity ground to a near standstill in 2025, the International Air Transport Association has warned, blaming a punishing combination of regulatory burden, high costs and unresolved competitiveness failings for choking the route growth that underpins the continent's economy. Data released by the trade body shows the EU route network expanded by just 1 per cent last year, a net gain of 154 routes to bring the total to 14,797. The figure sits below the 1.5 per

A Royal Air Force Dassault Falcon 900LX transporting UK Defence Secretary John Healey lost GPS reception for the entire three-hour flight returning from Estonia on 21 May, in an incident UK defence sources have attributed to Russian interference and which has sharpened concerns over the resilience of European airspace. The aircraft, an Envoy IV CC.1 operated by Centreline AV on behalf of 32 (The Royal) Squadron at RAF Northolt, was transiting Baltic airspace after Healey visi