A deal between Qatar and France in which the Gulf state agreed to acquire twenty-four Rafale fight jets from Dassault Aviation (DAB, Paris Le Bourget) has come under attack amid reports Paris was forced to grant valuable air traffic right concessions to secure the EUR6.3 billion (USD7.1 billion) deal.
France's Le Monde newspaper earlier this week said François Hollande's government was forced to grant Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) additional traffic rights to serve Lyon St. Exupéry and Nice 3x weekly in order to win the contract, a claim the French Prime Minister has denied.
“There were discussions in other areas with Qatar, and with other countries, regarding the allocation of air routes, but this contract involved only the Rafale aircraft and the accessories that will equip them,” the French Prime Minister was quoted as saying in Doha. The sale also includes MBDA missiles and the training of Qatari pilots, technicians, and intelligence officers by the French army.
Though Air France (AF, Paris CDG) has yet to officially comment on the matter, the carrier's largest pilot union, Syndicat National des Pilotes de Ligne (SNPL), has warned it would strike should the Qataris be granted greater access to the French market.
"The only element that still protects European airlines in the face of an completely distorted market, is the non-issuance of additional service authorizations of European airports to companies that do not adhere to the norms of a competitive market," it said.
Air France-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has joined fellow European legacy carrier Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International) in petitioning the European Commission (EC) to curb Emirates (EK, Dubai International), Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi International), and Qatar Airways' access to the European market claiming their access to preferential loans and alleged state subsidization gives them an unfair competitive advantage.
