(Bloomberg) -- Dutch flag carrier KLM NV has called on the European Union to come up with measures to counter “unfair” competition from Chinese airlines that are cleared to fly over Russia’s airspace.
“Europe can at least look at how we can prevent that unfair playing field by pricing it or looking at it in a different way,” KLM Chief Executive Officer Marjan Rintel said in an interview with the WNL television program on Sunday.
The EU airlines have not been able to fly over Russia since the beginning of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022. Ukraine’s airspace has also been closed since then. That’s given Chinese rivals who have access to Russian airspace an advantage in terms of costs.
Rintel said that avoiding Russian airspace adds between two to four hours of flying time, driving up its flight prices. Her comments come as some European airlines are considering to curb their flights to China.
British Airways PLC said it will halt flights between London and Beijing from this month until November next year. Deutsche Lufthansa AG has also said it’s evaluating whether it should cut its daily flight from Frankfurt to Beijing, citing its inability to compete with Gulf airlines.
Last week, the Dutch arm of Air-France KLM kicked off a cost-cutting drive that includes postponing investments and evaluating the sale of non-core operations.
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