ERA Calls On Regulators To Recognize Airline Diversity | Aviation Week

The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) says a one-size-fits-all regulatory approach is squeezing Europe’s smallest carriers and threatening essential regional connectivity. In a report released ahead of the group’s General Assembly in Belfast, ERA director general Montserrat Barriga and president Jesper Rungholm (CEO of Danish Air Transport, DAT) argued that rising costs and administrative complexity are undermining route viability. ERA points to concentration in demand, noting that about a quarter of intra-European capacity sits on just 5% of routes. It also highlights the fragility of “thin routes,” where services with fewer than 50,000 annual seats account for 42% of short-haul networks but only 6% of capacity, with four out of five served by a single airline. The European Commission is finalizing its next Aviation Strategy.