Europe’s Regional Airlines Lay Plans for New EU Parliament
European Regions Airline Association head Simon McNamara calls body's changes "a good opportunity" for his group's members.
European Regions Airline Association director general Simon McNamara (Photo: ERA)
European Regions Airline Association director general Simon McNamara (Photo: ERA)

Change is afoot in the European regional airline sector, it would seem. Gone are the days of the “us and them,” with the regionals on one side, the major airlines on another and the low-cost carriers playing the role of bad-boy upstarts. The airline industry has been through the days of hybrid confusion and emerged into a world of working together and helping each other, according to Simon McNamara, director general of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA). “It’s a huge change…we want to break the perception that regional carriers are just own-brand point-to-point,” he admitted.