EC proposals aimed at reducing airlines’ carbon emissions may harm competition in the bloc while doing little for the environment, Austrian Airlines has warned. Responding to the “Fit for 55” proposals published by the European Commission on 14 July – designed to enable the sector to contribute a broader goal of a 55% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 – the Vienna-based carrier’s CE Alexis von Hoensbroech states that “the measures must not distort competition, otherwise the climate will not be helped but the domestic economy will be damaged to the greatest possible extent”. “The European institutions should not put any additional hurdles in the way of domestic aviation, but rather build the launch pad for the use of climate-friendly sustainable fuels,” he adds. “For the planned quota of sustainable fuels, however, a financing mechanism must be found that includes all providers equally and does not leave the burden on European wings alone.” Austrian Airlines, together with its parent Lufthansa Group, has set itself a goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.<br/>
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Ethiopian Airlines and Liege Airport, Belgium's largest cargo airport, on Thursday announced they have renewed their long-term partnership until 2026. Liege Airport will continue to be Ethiopian Airlines cargo hub serving as a freighter gateway between Africa and Europe for the next five years, according to a statement from Ethiopian Airlines on Thursday. With the partnership, Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services has been providing fast and secure cargo transportation service across Europe and beyond for the last 15 years, said Acting Managing Director of Ethiopian Airlines Cargo and Logistics Services, Enquanhone Minyashal. Ethiopian Airlines has already operated 15,000 freighter flights into Liege Airport, approaching an incredible 1 million tons of cargo carried, said Steven Verhasselt, VP Commercial of Liege Airport.<br/>
China’s three largest carriers saw their domestic passenger traffic in June shrink for third time on a month-on-month basis, despite reporting decent gains compared to a year ago. The ‘Big Three’ — comprising Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines — also saw overall traffic in the first half of the year grow compared to a year ago, when much of China was placed under strict lockdown at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Air China carried 6.2m domestic passengers in June, a 39% increase year on year. Compared to May, the Star Alliance carrier saw domestic passenger numbers slide 25%. Domestic traffic grew 42% year on year, but shrank early 27% compared to May. Capacity rose 31.5% compared to the same month in 2020, but fell nearly 23% month on month. The Beijing-based carrier reported a domestic passenger load factor of 72.5%, a five percentage point increase compared to 2020. However, this was 4.1 percentage points lower than May. On a half-yearly basis, the ‘Big Three’ reported respectable increases in traffic on their domestic networks. Air China carried around 38m passengers in the six months to 30 June, representing a 69% rise year on year. Story has details of other carrier results.<br/>