Europe's interesting North-South divide in terms of its airlines

[The Lawspeaker]

This is why you shouldn't work with frogs if you can avoid it:

Friction arose a number of times between the policies of parent Air France-KLM and subsidiary KLM and between France and the Netherlands. An illustration of this is the parent company’s wish to skim off the Dutch subsidiary’s profit after a sharp fall in profit in 2015, in favour of French subsidiary Air France. But the straw that apparently broke the camel’s back was the discussion surrounding the reappointment of the Dutch CEO of KLM, Pieter Elbers. It was rumoured that his reappointment was uncertain, despite good results from KLM under his leadership. Shortly thereafter, the Dutch State announced that it planned to acquire shares in the holding company Air France-KLM and that it would have the same size of shareholding as the French State.

[Tietar]

What is very intriguing and noticeable is how (unless you count Turkish Airlines as European, which I do not) the European airlines with by far the biggest range of international/intercontinental destinations are British Airways, Air France, KLM and Lufthansa. By contrast, despite their strategic locations in Europe, the major airlines of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece are much more limited in their scope. TAP Portugal, Iberia and Air Europa only really focus on Portuguese and Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America and Africa, while ignoring most of the rest of the world. What's more, Alitalia's range of destinations is very spotty and haphazard, while since the collapse and restructuring a decade ago of Olympic Airways, no Greek airline even offers flights outside Europe and the Middle East anymore. What explains this disparity?

stop associating Spain with Portugal or Greece with that obsessive division north/south

[Tooting Carmen]

stop associating Spain with Portugal or Greece with that obsessive division north/south

Yes I know Madrid and Barcelona are two of Europe's biggest airports, but if you look at their range of destinations they are actually much more limited than the airports above them in the list. Also of note is how Spain's domestic air network is the biggest in Europe, with much of it centred of course on the two main cities.

[Westbrook]

Off topic but I had a credit card skimmed years back and someone actually managed to use it at Madrid-Barajas airport before I noticed, this was also when I realized my bank wasn't paying much attention either. I still like it better than Heathrow though. Any time you can avoid London it's a good idea.

Yes I know Madrid is one of Europe's biggest airports, but if you look at its range of destinations it is actually much more limited than the airports above it in the list. Also of note is how Spain's domestic air network is the biggest in Europe, with much of it centred of course on Madrid.

[Ice]

Airline Nordicism. Now we have officially seen it all.

[Tooting Carmen]

Air France destinations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...e_destinations
British Airways destinations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_destinations
Lufthansa destinations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...a_destinations
KLM destinations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_KLM_destinations
TAP Portugal destinations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...l_destinations
Iberia destinations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...a_destinations / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Air__destinations / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberia_Express
ITA Airways destinations (successor airline to Alitalia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_destinations
Aegean Airlines destinations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...s_destinations
Olympic Air destinations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...r_destinations

[Cristiano viejo]

Not sure if I understood fine da question. In Spain there are tons of operating airlines, many are foreigners (eg, Ryanair). What is the point of the thread? because obviously Spain for example attracts much more people than let say Netherlands or UK.

[Tooting Carmen]

Not sure if I understood fine da question. In Spain there are tons of operating airlines, many are foreigners (eg, Ryanair). What is the point of the thread? because obviously Spain for example attracts much more people than let say Netherlands or UK.

I am saying that Iberia has a substantially more limited range of destinations than do British Airways, Air France, KLM or Lufthansa.