EU freezes airline take-off slot rules
take-off and landing slots after the European Union assembly agreed on Thursday
to loosen “use-or-lose rules”.
like British Airways (BAY.L) but has angered airports and budget airlines like Britain’s easyJet (EZJ.L).
80% of the time or face losing them the following season, but some big airlines
argue this obliges them to keep flying even when it is uneconomical.
will avoid if they can,” said Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, secretary general of the
Association of European Airlines (AEA).
responsible,” he added.
season as were allocated in 2009, regardless of how much they use them, the European Parliament agreed, with 508 votes in favour and 20 against.
a 5 percent dip in traffic in 2009.
said the AEA’s Schulte-Strathaus. “We have nothing to benchmark it against —
it has already exceeded in severity any past economic upheavals in our industry.”
a market precisely when it should punish high-cost carriers.
an easyJet spokesman. “There are other airlines waiting to take their place. It
is discrimination against efficient airlines like easyJet and counterproductive
to the aim of easing the recession.”
in the midst of the crisis.
and capacity at short notice to save costs, airports are bound by significant
long term financial commitments linked to the development of their infrastructure,”
said ACI director general Olivier Jankovec. (Reporting by Pete Harrison; Editing
by Richard Hubbard)