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OUR BUSINESS MODEL

The subsidy myth

As a major stakeholder in international aviation, we welcome a robust, fact-based debate on the issue of airline subsidies.

We recognise that in the current exceptional circumstances, many airlines will need temporary government support of various kinds to survive. However, our long-standing position is that we are opposed to state aid as a tool to keep inefficient airlines afloat or other forms of airline subsidy that artificially distort the markets.

Despite our financial transparency(Opens page in the same tab), a few airline competitors have claimed that we benefit from reduced fuel and airport charges and receive other financial support.

For example, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines in 2015 made such allegations, but in response at the time, we systematically disproved those in this published 388-page document. That document and associated material can be read here: