Two traditional airlines have laid the blame for the problems they are suffering at the door of low cost carriers.
Fernando Conte, Iberia's chairman, said competition from no frills operators as well as fuel prices were the greatest challenge to his airline.
In Switzerland, easyJet announced that it would make Basel another of its European hubs just days after Swiss, the national carrier, announced plans to cut staff and its fleet and downgrade operations at Geneva and Basel.
Iberia claims that local government grants to low cost airlines to use smaller airports amounted in some cases to a subsidy of up to 13 a ticket.
A Reuters report quoted Mr Conte as saying: “We are worried about distortions at certain airports. It seems deeply unfair to us. These are distortions caused by subsidies and covert aid.”
But he denied reports that Iberia was about to cut routes out of Barcelona in the face of low cost competition, notably from Ryanair and easyJet which both fly to the Catalan region of Spain where Barcelona is the main city.
Mr Conte said that of the 50 low cost airlines in Europe, of which about 30 flew to Spain, only two made a profit “as far as we know.” He added: “We have doubts about these airlines' viability. There is a need to consolidation.”
The loss making Swiss operation has suffered since easyJet moved into the EuroAirport which serves Basel, Mulhouse and Freiberg last March.
Now while Swiss retrenches, easyJet, which already runs four routes from the airport, is now negotiating to increase that number.
Ray Webster, easyJet's ceo, said that Swiss was now “limping wounded” back to its base at Zurich and that easyJet which was already the largest operator in Geneva was becoming Switzerland's national carrier.