Frankfurt — German airlines Lufthansa and Condor are facing increasingly unfair competition due to a significant rise in taxes and fees, Condor boss Peter Gerber said on Monday at a business event at Frankfurt Airport.
In the past four years, the cost volume from air traffic control, aviation security checks and air traffic tax has doubled from €3.5 billion ($3.8 billion) to €7 billion per year, he said.
International airlines are increasingly avoiding German airports, leading to a loss of global connections, Gerber said.
He noted that the German recovery rate is 82% compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019, while most other European countries have seen growth in air traffic beyond that level.
He also said that high ticket prices are making flying into a social issue in Germany's export-oriented economy.
Lufthansa’s Chief Human Resources Officer Michael Niggemann voiced his opposition to state mandates for the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), saying that since the system only records departures within the EU, it creates competitive disadvantages with non-European hubs.
From 2025, airlines departing from the EU are required to cover an average of 2% of their fuel from SAF, with this to rise to 70% by 2050.
Lufthansa said insufficient SAF production in the future will make it a significant cost factor, and that EU and German state requirements for the use of synthetic, electricity-produced fuels are unattainable.
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