The claim marked the start of a concerted lobbying campaign
by airlines on both sides of the Atlantic challenging the rules for government
export measures which have smoothed the sales of jetliners to high-growth
markets in Asia and the Gulf.
The reason for airline anger is an agreement which allows
the home governments of US manufacturer Boeing and Europe’s Airbus — France,
Germany, Spain and the UK — to give export financing to some but not all
carriers.
World trade officials say export credits — effectively
discounted loans — do not necessarily contravene trade rules.
But an informal trade agreement between the five countries
means the export credits cannot be offered to airlines in any of the five
countries where Boeing and EADS subsidiary Airbus are based, executives said.
That means an airline in an Airbus home nation, such as
British Airways, would not qualify for US credits when buying a Boeing in the
same way that a US airline buying an Airbus would not secure the European
export credit, the Association of European Airlines said.
“There is a situation here whereby European taxpayers are
funding the sale of planes to our global competitors who are getting conditions
that we can’t get,” said the association’s spokesman David Henderson.
Major airlines in all five countries are making separate but
coordinated protests asking for the ban to be lifed, he added.
The countries include some of the world’s biggest airlines
including US majors Delta and United, many of whom have slashed jobs during a
severe industry downturn.
Proponents of the change did not name airlines or countries,
but their resentment is clearly directed at major carriers in the Gulf and Asia
which have grabbed market share from older rivals by filling large new jets
with people bound for new hubs.
The shift in industry power was dramatically highlighted
when Dubai-based Emirates ordered 32 Airbus A380 superjumbos, the world’s
largest airliner, at the Berlin air show in June in a challenge to Air France-KLM
and Lufthansa.
But Tim Clark, president of Emirates airline, dismissed the
lobbying campaign and said US and European carriers would do better to question
why so many of them struggle to make money.
“We are an airline and these are government initiatives that
have been in place for a very long time,” Clark told Reuters.
“If the governments decide to change the home rules it’s up
to them. To say we shouldn’t take advantage of those is absolute nonsense,” he
said, adding Emirates did not in any case always take advantage of financing
from Export Credit Agencies (ECA).
“To say we are successful because we get cheap credit is
complete nonsense,” Clark added.
The row is separate from a larger trade fight pitting Airbus
and Boeing against each other over mutual accusations that they received
illegal subsidies from the United States and the same four European nations
involved in the export credit dispute.
The role of export credit financing has increased sharply as
private financing dried up during the financial crisis, pushing the
contribution of ECA financing as high as one third of the value of aircraft
sales, according to Airbus.
Analysts say a key factor affecting Airbus and Boeing is the
extent to which these export credits will be available as governments look for
savings in their budgets.
The issue has also been brought to a head by the entry of
smaller competitors such as Canada’s Bombardier and Brazil’s Embraer into the
market for larger planes, challenging a duopoly held by Airbus and Boeing.
European airlines said the changes meant the restrictive “home
country rule” limiting credits no longer made sense.
