CEOs From Air France and Ryanair See Different Flight Paths to a Travel Recovery
Photo Credit: Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport, as seen at night during busier times. The top bosses of Air France and Ryanair differed on competitiveness, fairness, and the value of testing at airports at Skift Aviation Forum. Skift
Skift Take
There's a fascinating difference of opinion between the top bosses of Air France and Ryanair on competitiveness, fairness, and the value of testing at airports.
Full-service carriers like Air France are copying some budget operators like Ryanair to compete with them by minimizing cash burn during the pandemic. But a long-term shift is also underway in Europe. Climate change mandates from Western European governments are prompting carriers of all types to rethink and prune their networks built up over the years.
As part of its bailout packages, the French government has been pushing to cut the country's domestic routes that fly about two hours or less. The push affects both traditional carriers like Air France and relative newcomers like Ryanair. Austria imposed similar short-haul flight restrictions on Austrian Airlines, owned by Lufthansa Group, earlier this year.
"There were conditions coming with the support of the French government, and one of the conditions is to reduce our environmental footprint a lot quicker, especially on the domestic front," said Anne Rigail, CEO of Air France on Thursday at Skift Aviation Forum held online.
