Airlines and manufacturers warn of escalation – Diepresse.com
Aviation is closely networked – this is precisely why new tariffs from Washington could have far -reaching consequences for Europe.
Passengers are already eliminated in the United States, and airlines worldwide are concerned about future business. The customs policy of the US President Donald Trump has long been affecting international air traffic. But it could get much worse if the customs walls were pulled up between the USA and Europe.
The industry is still puzzling over the future conditions, while the EU and the USA negotiate. Currently only the new US base will be ten percent as well 25 percent special tariffs on carsAuto parts as well as steel and aluminum in force. Civil aircraft and aircraft parts have so far been excluded from tariffs between the EU and the USA according to a 1980 WTO agreement. « This agreement should continue to apply, » says a spokesman for the industry association BDL.
But at first people simply do without air travel, warns the industry expert Maria Latorre from the credit insurer Euler Hermes. Because of the increasing concerns about the US economy and inflationary consequences, it predicts a significant slowdown with input and outgoing tourism in the USA, both in exchange with China and with Europe, with correspondingly falling booking figures.
Lufthansa’s main market affected
The Lufthansa Group Currently no details of the main market North Atlantic refer to the upcoming quarterly report. When presenting the annual financial statements in March, CEO Carsten Spohr still reported stable booking figures and high ticket prices, which one was achieved in particular for US customers. Competitor Condor reports that the booking inputs were « within the framework of their own market expectations ». There were no massive changes.
A look at the US internal market shows that the calm could quickly be over in times of Trump’s customs storms. Authorities, business people and private passengers book fewer domestic flights and keep their money together. As a result, the large US companies have corrected their expectations down, sometimes no longer trust the business figures. And Virgin Atlantic Airways reported booking declines in their long -distance flights between the USA and Great Britain.
Trump’s tariffs endanger transatlantic supply chains
However, the greater concern applies to the supply chains for the construction of modern passenger aircraft. According to a line -up of Euler Hermes airbus more than 2,000 suppliers, Boeing After all, 345, of which the majority are also located on possibly duty -liable countries. « Europe and America are closely interwoven in aviation. Our companies are urgently dependent on deliveries. Sometimes there are even several border crossings in the production process, » says the general manager of the Federal Association of German Aerospace Industry (BDLI), Marie-Christine von Hahn.
Even without additional customs barriers, passenger jets after the Corona crisis are a scarce commodity that has led to thin air plans and correspondingly high ticket prices. Due to massive manufacturing and approval problems, Boeing in particular is in default with its deliveries, so that numerous airlines are desperately waiting for new aircraft. At the European competitor Airbus, the order books with ten times the annual production are overcrowded.
Competition from China
China is said to be the financial news agency Bloomberg According to his airlines, no more machines from the US aircraft manufacturer Boeing and no equipment or equipment to obtain parts for the aviation of US companies. The hour of its own medium -range jet Comac C919 could beat in China, even if many parts come from the west. « These transatlantic tariffs only use our competitor. The West brakes its own competitiveness, » says von Hahn.
At Lufthansa, 242 fixed aircraft orders were on the note at the turn of the year, 101 jets are to come from Boeing. Among them are fifteen-fully assembled Dreamliners from the long-distance type 787, which are still in Seattle on the farm due to the lack of approvals at the Lufthansa seats. According to information from « Süddeutsche Zeitung » It is already checked internally to fly the jets before drastic customs increases at short notice via the Atlantic or to import them through Switzerland.
Airlines do not want to pay tariffs on aircraft
Boeing wholesale Ryanair Supposes that Trump will not attach a customs ballast to his flagship export company Boeing. From next year until 2034, the IREN expect the delivery of 330 Boeing 737-jets-« at the agreed price », as the company records on the DPA request. A change to European Airbus aircraft is an option for no airline due to the full order books of the aircraft manufacturers. The US airline Delta has already made it clear that it will never take over import duties for ordered Airbus machines.
There could also be winners in the entire customs malaise: In an interview with the « Spiegel », the new one hopes Easyjet boss Kenton Jarvis on additional passengers in Europe when US trips are abandoned. « We are very happy that we have an airplane from Europe with Airbus and that our engines do not come from the American company Pratt & Whitney. We weren’t smarter than others, we were just lucky. » (APA/dpa)
