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A new survey lays bare the structural rot spreading through the continent's component industry The numbers published this week by CLEPA, the Brussels-based association representing Europe's automotive suppliers, amount to a quiet industrial emergency. Some 24% of suppliers now expect negative profitability in 2026, a sharp rise from 15% in the previous survey, meaning one in four companies supplying parts to Europe's carmakers is bracing for a loss-making year. The data, comp

A Dutch startup wants to do to the train what easyJet did to the plane. Investors and incumbents are watching. A new operator quietly pulled out of Amsterdam Centraal last week and, in doing so, accelerated a debate that has been building across European transport policy for years: why does a flight from Amsterdam to Berlin still cost less than the train? GoVolta launched its inaugural Amsterdam–Berlin service on 19 March, followed a day later by an Amsterdam–Hamburg route, w

Three weeks into the effective closure of the world's most critical shipping lane, European capitals are grappling with the limits of their influence and the depth of their exposure. The numbers tell their own story. Just 21 tankers have transited the Strait of Hormuz since the conflict began on 28 February, compared with more than 100 ships daily before the fighting broke out. For Europe, which relies on the strait for a significant share of its oil and liquefied natural gas

The world's largest aircraft lessor places its biggest-ever single order with Toulouse, cementing Airbus's dominance in the global single-aisle market. AerCap Holdings, the Dublin-headquartered leasing giant, has signed a firm order with Airbus for 100 A320neo family aircraft — the largest direct purchase of its kind the Irish company has ever placed with the European manufacturer. The transaction covers 23 A320neo and 77 A321neo jets, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 20

Brussels, 19 March 2026 — In one week's time, a small Belgian-Dutch cooperative will attempt something that Europe's state railways decided was no longer worth the trouble. On 26 March, European Sleeper launches its Paris–Berlin night train, reviving a route abandoned by Austrian national operator ÖBB after the French government withdrew its funding subsidy at the end of last year. The optics are striking. Where a state-backed giant retreated, a startup is advancing — and th

Brussels, 19 March 2026 — Europe's automotive industry is entering a decisive legislative stretch as the European Parliament and Council work through the Commission's December 2025 Automotive Package — a sweeping revision of CO₂ emissions rules that has exposed deep fault lines between manufacturers, environmental groups, and member states. The timing is uncomfortable. New EU car registrations fell 3.9% in January compared with a year earlier, marking a second consecutive di

Conflict in the Middle East is redrawing the map of long-haul aviation — and European carriers are moving fast to capitalise The suspension of scheduled services through Gulf hubs has triggered one of the most significant reconfigurations of long-haul aviation in years, forcing European carriers to expand direct Asia-Europe capacity at speed and reshaping a competitive landscape that had long been defined by Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. With operations at Emirates, Qatar Airway

The EU's emissions trading scheme reaches full implementation this year, landing at the worst possible moment for the industry European shipping companies are confronting a reckoning that has been years in the making. From 2026, vessels operating on routes touching EU ports are required to purchase carbon allowances covering the full cost of their greenhouse gas emissions — the final stage of a phased implementation of the EU Emissions Trading System that began in 2024. The t

Software faults at Alstom cast a shadow over SNCF's most delayed flagship programme Paris, 17 March — France's next-generation high-speed train is in trouble again. SNCF's TGV M could miss its planned 1 July commercial launch date, with persistent software issues threatening to push back the train's long-awaited debut by several weeks. The French state operator has pushed back against the speculation, insisting the rollout remains on schedule. This posture will do little to q

The EU's automotive rethink offers industry breathing room. Critics warn it may slow the very transition it seeks to protect. Brussels, 17 March — Three months after the European Commission published its long-awaited Automotive Package, the battle over what it actually means for Europe's carmakers is entering a sharper phase. The package, unveiled in December, amounts to the most significant softening of the EU's clean vehicle agenda in a decade. The headline change is a redu

The EU Emissions Trading System reaches full compliance in 2026, landing carriers with a cost shock that is already reshaping trade economics. For years, shipping's reckoning with European carbon regulation was a problem for another day. That day has arrived. From the start of 2026, the European Union's Emissions Trading System reached its final phase of implementation for maritime transport, requiring carriers to surrender allowances covering the full 100 per cent of their v

Lufthansa leads a rapid capacity push on direct Asia routes as the Iran conflict rewrites the map of long-haul aviation. The geopolitical tremors reshaping the Middle East are forcing a structural rethink inside Europe's airline boardrooms — and for some carriers, the disruption is beginning to look like an opportunity. With operations at Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad sharply curtailed by the ongoing Iran conflict, airlines are moving quickly to surge capacity on direct