Archive 2010

• World premiere: Biofuels in regular flight operations

  Biofuels play a prominent role in the future of aviation. First, in contrast to all other modes of transport, aviation will not have any alternative to combustion engines for the foreseeable future. more ...

Analyses

• Gulf states airlines

  Predatory competition at a breakneck pace

  The government-owned carriers of the Persian Gulf states are currently building the world’s largest long-haul fleet. Emirates alone has close to 200 wide body aircraft on its order list. more ...

• Ryanair’s pawns

  Micro-airports under pressure

  Micro-airports often rely exclusively on Ryanair & Co. The “at-others-cost airlines” have an easy time of it – pitting sites against each other, fleecing local governments, and diverting millions of profits to their own company coffers. more ...

• Berlin
  

  New airport will secure mobility and prosperity

  Berlin is gaining momentum. In its current ranking of cities, the Hamburg Institute of International Economics selected the city as its “rising star of the year.” More jobs and higher productivity are making this possible. more ...

• Emissions trading

  Many open issues remain

  Starting in 2012, European air transport will be included in emissions trading. It is already now becoming clear that the EU has thus dared to go it alone in an endeavour which is bureaucratic and cost-intensive. more ...

• Global climate protection

  Aviation pointing the way

  Global climate conferences have seldom been able to live up to the high expectations placed on them. Aviation, on the other hand, shows that sector-related solutions are efficient and facilitate concrete gains in climate protection. more ...

News

• ++ Single European Sky: Good things come to those who wait, and wait, and wait”¦ ++ Air cargo: Tightening security with common sense ++ more ...

Lead

• Consumer protection: Europe must point the way

  Already now, air travellers enjoy excellent consumer protection rights, with the EU driving the trend. And rightly so: individual national solutions – such as the mediation body currently under discussion in Germany – runs counter to the principle of a harmonised regulatory framework. more ...

Analyses

• Export credit guarantees

  Unlevel playing field in purchase of aircraft

  Through export credit guarantees, European countries are creating favourable financial conditions for airlines such as Emirates, Ryanair, and Quantas. British Airways, Air France, and Lufthansa come up empty-handed – a distortion of competition reaching into the hundreds of millions. more ...

• Air travel tax

  Let global competition work

  The German air travel tax goes into effect starting in 2011. The German government is thus disregarding important arguments brought by the domestic business community as well as lessons learned from aboard – and thereby delaying the planned harmonisation of European travel taxes. more ...

• Mode of transport analysis

  Mode of transport analysis: Aviation convincing

  The best environmental impact analysis, clear cost advantages starting from 500 kilometres on, and virtually subsidy-free – that’s air transport. A study by INFRAS Zurich and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research proves that aviation offers efficient and sustainable mobility. more ...

• Fuel consumption

  The motto is “conserve”!

  Big results often come from small changes. Alone through the use of 7.5kg-lighter food service trolleys, Lufthansa conserves nearly 11 million litres of kerosene annually across its entire fleet. Further examples of how Lufthansa will reduce its fuel consumption by 175 million litres in 2010 include. more ...

News

• ++ Lufthansa advancing careers of women ++ Transatlantic air traffic: Eliminating unnecessary duplicate security checks by 2011 ++ Body scanners in test phase ++ Dr. Christoph Franz to succeed Wolfgang Mayrhuber as Chairman and CEO ++ more ...

Lead

• Volcanic ash cloud: Lessons learned?

  Security enjoys top priority in aviation. Yet the authorities utterly overestimated the risks stemming from the volcanic ash cloud, resulting in GDP losses totalling in the billions. The EU and nation-states are urgently called on to revamp crisis management provisions. more ...

Analyses

• Compulsory levy

  Air travel tax penalises German airlines

  The tax dubbed an “environmental air travel levy” is supposed to inject € 1 billion into the public coffers in Germany, threatening to cause German airlines to fall behind in international competition and placing German jobs at risk.  What that has to do with environmental protection remains a mystery. more ...

• Security

  Optimising regulatory framework conditions

  The European Parliament is pursuing the right course with the draft directive on aviation security charges. Under the provision, member states cannot unilaterally tighten security measures, but must instead carry out obligatory impact analyses and ensure transparency in the collection of fees. Regulators must finally take up further planned measures – such as one-stop security – with fervour. more ...

• Environment

  Investing billions in quiet air transport

  Despite the crisis in the airline industry, Lufthansa is modernising its entire fleet of Boeing 737s in Frankfurt with the installation of quieter jet engines – a voluntary million-euro investment that will provide noticeable relief to people living near the airport. more ...

• Balance

  A motivating record of success

  The latest sustainability report proves Lufthansa is on course. Since 2000, the airline has reduced its specific carbon emissions by six percent, achieving a new record of efficiency in 2009. During the same timeframe, nitrogen oxide emissions fell even more, by seven percent. Read on for more highlights on sustainable air transport. more ...

• Lufthansa

  An attractive and reliable employer

  Every year, over 100,000 job applicants turn to Lufthansa. Among business graduates, the airline is among the three most popular employers, in large part because Lufthansa enables its employees to balance work and family life. more ...

News

• ++ Airbus A380 taking off ++ Lufthansa and Boeing: A story of innovation ++ more ...

Lead

• Global competition

  Distortions harm Europe

  Gulf state and EU airlines are in direct competition with each other, but operate in very different environments.  Emirates & Co. benefit from extremely low taxes, minimal social welfare contributions, and other advantages, while European airlines are implementing the toughest environmental and consumer protections, allow trade unions, and pay fair wages. more ...

Analyses

• OTC Derivatives

  Regulating with common sense

  The EU wants to put a stop to speculation in the financial markets.  But the current regulatory proposals put forth by the European Commission for trading in OTC derivatives could in fact exacerbate the situation in times of crisis.  It is imperative that the proposals be improved. more ...

  
  
• Ryanair

  Playing fast and loose with German taxpayer money

  In a referendum taking place in late April, the people of Luebeck could prevent millions of euros from being wasted and pull the plug on the Luebeck airport. Ryanair would be the only loser: The Irish heavyweight enjoys airport charges at preferential rates at the Baltic Sea airport. The people of Luebeck have to foot the bill. more ...

Environment

• Lufthansa fleet

  Investing billions in environmental efficiency

  Lufthansa set a new record for efficiency in 2009.  The airline consumed only 4.30 litres per passenger and 100 kilometres. This figure will continue to fall in the coming years.  At a list price of approx. € 13 billion, Lufthansa is replacing older aircraft with more efficient models, which will cut carbon emissions significantly.  more ...

  
  
• Biodiversity

  Lufthansa committed to nature conservation

  The United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity. And not without cause: Animal and plant species are continuing to decline on an enormous scale; human livelihoods are being placed at risk.  Lufthansa believes it shares responsibility for preserving biological diversity within its own field of activity.  more ...

News

• ++ Pressing ahead with Single European Sky despite opposition ++ Spain finally reforming air traffic control ++ Lufthansa shouldering responsibility in Haiti ++  more ...