European airlines having to fly empty flights due to continuing slot use requirement
During the height of the Covid pandemic, the EU suspended the normal slot allocation process for airlines, that had forced them to use at least 80% of their slots – or lose them. The aim is to ration space at busy airports. During Covid, most airports had below half as many flights as in 2019. Now the EU has decided to start reinstating the slot use rules, and in December the European Commission set the threshold to 50% for the winter travel season. Lufthansa Group, which includes Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and Swiss said it would have to run18,000 unnecessary flights from mid-December to mid-March to comply. That is crazy in terms of carbon (and airline costs, for zero benefit). Lufthansa said it plans to cancel 33,000 scheduled flights by the end of March because of a slump in demand caused by Omicron. In the US, slot rules are still suspended. In the UK the partial suspension (50% use) continues until the end of March 2022. Greenpeace called the empty flights “absurd” and pointed to “a new low for the sector that is kept afloat with government support”.
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EU red tape farce as planes forced to fly around Europe with NO passengers – ‘Unnecessary’
AIRLINE COMPANIES have blamed the European Union for pushing them to run tens of thousands of “ghost flights” in order to maintain their airport landing slots.
By ASTHA SAXENA (Express)
Jan 8th, 2022
The directives that cause massive damage to the environment have been highly criticised by the environmentalists with many of them requesting the EU to alter the new rules. The rules, which normally require airlines to use at least 80% of their allocated slots at airports, were waived in early 2020 as the coronavirus hit the continent.
But since then, the bloc has begun reinstating them, and last month the European Commission set the threshold to 50% for the winter travel season.
Lufthansa Group, which includes Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and Swiss had to take 18,000 unnecessary flights from mid-December to mid-March to comply with Brussel’s guidelines, the company said.
The airline group said it plans to cancel 33,000 scheduled flights by the end of March because of a slump in demand driven by the wave of omicron infections across the continent. “That benefits the climate and the airlines.”
Boris Ogurksy, a Lufthansa spokesman, said: “Other regions of the world are taking a more pragmatic approach here, for example [in the US] by temporarily suspending slot rules due the current pandemic situation. [The suspension of the slot rules in the UK has continued ever since early in the pandemic, to avoid planes flying empty, just to keep a (valuable) slot. ]
Carsten Spohr, the airline group’s CEO, has previously described many of the 18,000 trips as “empty, unnecessary” flights.
George Gilkinet, Belgium’s mobility minister, called for Brussels to put an end to this “environmental, economic and social nonsense” after it emerged his country’s national flag carrier was being forced to make so many empty flights.
Teenage environmentalist, Greta Thunberg, sarcastically tweeted: “The EU surely is in a climate emergency mode.”
Greenpeace called the empty flights “absurd” and pointed to “a new low for the sector that is kept afloat with government support”.
Stay Grounded, a campaign group, said operating empty planes was an example of “bull**** flights”.
The group said: “It seems like the fact that we’re in a severe climate crisis and that flights are the fastest way to fry the planet has not arrived in the heads of decision makers and airlines. If it had, empty flights would not be allowed anymore.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1546786/EU-flights-farce-empty-europe-Lufthansa-ont
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See earlier:
2021 No. 0000 CIVIL AVIATION The Airports Slot Allocation (Alleviation of Usage Requirements) (No. 2) Regulations 2021
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2021/9780348226133/pdfs/ukdsi_9780348226133_en.pdf
Hansard:
Airports Slot Allocation (Alleviation of Usage Requirements) (No. 2) Regulations 2021
Volume 815: debated on Tuesday 19 October 2021
Under ordinary circumstances, the 80:20 rule helps to encourage efficient use of scarce airport capacity while allowing airlines a degree of flexibility in their operations. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the EU Commission waived the 80:20 rule for the summer 2020 and winter 2020 seasons. Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the UK Government decided to extend this waiver to cover the summer 2021 season, going through until the end of October 2021, through the Airports Slot Allocation (Alleviation of Usage Requirements) Regulations 2021.
Through the provision to airlines of legal certainty that they would be able to retain their slots even if not operated, the commercial impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak on the industry were mitigated. This is because airlines might otherwise have opted to incur costs and operate flights at low load factors merely to retain slots. That would have been bad for emissions and, of course, bad for their finances.
Due to continued uncertainty and low passenger demand forecasts, we set out a package of measures on 19 July to alleviate slot usage requirements for the winter 2021 season, which runs from 31 October 2021 through to 26 March 2022. This package was developed following consultation with the aviation industry and careful consideration of the responses that we received. Industry expressed a range of views, ranging from calls for a full waiver to support for no alleviation at all.
… and it continues …
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Europe Extends 80/20 Slot Rule Suspension For Winter Season
by Joanna Bailey (Simple Flying)
September 14, 2020
The European Commission has today made the announcement that many European airlines were waiting to hear. It has confirmed that it will be extending the waiver of the 80/20 slot rule through to the end of the winter season. This will protect airline’s slots until March 27th next year, avoiding unnecessary ghost flights and allowing carriers to plan their winter schedules.
The European Commission has today announced its intention to extend the waiver on slot rules at congested airports through the entire IATA winter season. This will see the 80/20 requirement canceled through to March 27th, 2021, avoiding airlines operating ‘ghost flights’ just to keep their slots.
European Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean said that,
“Today’s report shows that air traffic levels remain low, and more importantly, they are not likely to recover in the near future. In this context, the lack of certainty over slots makes it difficult for airlines to plan their schedules, making planning difficult for airports and passengers.”
The slot waiver has been guaranteed by the Commission, giving airlines the information they need to dig in and build their winter schedules. Today’s decision follows a strong call earlier this month from IATA, ACI Europe, A4E and other industry bodies for the Commission to take action.
Similar waivers have been in place in other parts of the world. Last month, Hong Kong extended its slot waiver until March next year, and over the weekend, the FAA said it favors an extension of the slot waiver at US airports.
Under normal circumstances, some of Europe’s biggest and busiest airports are thoroughly oversubscribed. Airports such as Heathrow in London and Schiphol in Amsterdam have more demand than they can accommodate, meaning the airport has to be slot controlled.
This means airlines are given specific slots for landing and taking off, slots that they need to use in order to maintain their ownership. The usual rules say that the slots must be used for 80% of the time at a minimum; otherwise the airline could lose the slots for the following season.
When demand plummeted due to COVID, airlines were faced with either operating empty planes or risking the loss of their valuable airport slots. To solve this problem, the European Commission granted a waiver to the 80/20 rule back in March, which allowed airlines to let their slots go unused without risk of losing them.
Back then, the industry hoped for a return to semi-normality by the winter season. However, things are still pretty tricky, with border closures and worries about second waves making passengers reluctant to fly. As such, this extension of the waiver will come as a great relief to airlines trying to figure out their winter schedules.
Simple Flying reached out to the industry to see what this change in policy meant to them. IATA told Simple Flying just how welcome this waiver is. It said,
“IATA welcomes the granting of the slot waiver for the Winter season. It is helpful that the European Commission has recognized that airlines will not be able to run a full schedule this Winter, and that a slot waiver was needed to protect connectivity and the environment. We thank European member states and key members of the European Parliament for their understanding of the situation and their support for the Waiver.
“As the Commission’s statement acknowledged, airlines can now plan a realistic, sustainable schedule for this Winter. The challenge of that must not be underestimated. Planning in these uncertain times is difficult enough. Realizing even the modest schedules that airlines are putting together comes on top of that.
“The situation regarding which markets are open or closed remains in flux, with little predictability. Demand is flatlining as the summer travel season ends with little business travel on the horizon. The latest Eurocontrol estimates show that flight movements this Winter will be 55% down on 2019, and the situation is still deteriorating.
“Passenger numbers will not be returning to 2019 levels until at least 2024. The slot waiver gives airlines valuable flexibility to move services to where demand is stronger, and ensure that empty flights are not flown, but this waiver does not mark the beginning of the end of the crisis facing the aviation industry.”
Airlines4Europe, an industry body representing more than 70% of European air traffic, told us,
“We welcome the Commissioner’s clear statement. It is important that European airlines now have confirmation that the Commission will grant a waiver for the full winter season. The Commission’s report clearly shows the severe impact of COVID-19 on air travel in Europe. Demand has plummeted, uncoordinated travel restrictions continue to hold back the sector’s recovery, and we don’t know how the virus will evolve.
“The latest Eurocontrol forecasts anticipate 55% fewer flights in Europe in 2020 compared to 2019, a decrease of 6 million flights. The overall revenue loss is estimated at €140 billion across the industry [including airports and ANSPs].
“The winter season is typically harder for airlines than the summer season – less demand, lower profitability. And this summer was not a good one. Winter 2020/2021 will probably be the worst in aviation’s history.
“It is therefore good that the Commission is taking appropriate action to support the industry through this difficult period – the waiver allows airlines to adjust schedules without losing future access to key airports, and it allows airports to plan their resources and infrastructure accordingly.
“For anyone who has been following this issue, it is no secret that we wanted this clarity sooner. There were important deadlines in August for the slot allocation process, which we have now passed. There is no time to waste.
“To ensure the waiver is used responsibly and does not distort the market, we have agreed a set of conditions with the airports and the independent slot coordinators. As requested by Commissioner Valean in her statement, we are committed to applying the agreed industry conditions once the waiver has been formally granted.
“However, we now need the Commission to formally extend the waiver – through a so-called delegated act – to give all parties legal certainty. The sooner this happens, the faster the planning process for winter can get underway. This will also allow airlines to publish schedules that give passengers as much predictability as possible under the circumstances.”
UK airline Virgin Atlantic responded with a positive statement, but warned that more waivers may be needed next summer. It said,
“The global aviation industry is experiencing an unprecedented decline in consumer demand and immediate measures are needed to help airlines weather this storm.
“We’re very pleased that the European Commission has listened to airlines and airports and announced plans to relax the “use it or lose it” rule on airport slots for the full winter season, until 27th March 2021. Today’s decision provides airlines with the flexibility they need, enabling us to operate services as efficiently as possible, provide certainty for our customers, and avoid unnecessary carbon emissions.”
“We urge that slot waivers are kept under review and will push for them to be extended through summer 2021 if necessary.”
Although the Commission has agreed to extend the slot waiver, it has also made it clear that abuse of the system has been noted and will not be tolerated. Airlines should only keep hold of those slots which they intend to operate in the next equivalent season. Still, there have been accusations that some may be holding on to slots that they never intend to operate again, just to stifle the competition. Vălean commented on the situation, saying,
“The initial slot waiver – adopted in the early days of the crisis – has allowed airlines to make financially sound decisions on whether to run flights, as well as avoid ghost flights. Nonetheless, our report also highlights certain problems with the current waiver, which are preventing airlines from using airport capacity efficiently.
“Slots are not always relinquished in time for other users or airports to plan operations as they would like; competition may also be distorted if airlines seek to benefit by increasing their market presence without using their slots and airport capacity correctly. Such behavior can hamper competition and can, therefore, harm EU passengers and freight customers. This must be remedied.”
She further said that she hoped airlines would abide by the agreed conditions voluntarily throughout the winter season, pending the adoption of enforceable conditions. This is due to the fact the Commission wants to grant the waiver extension right away, before the enforcement action can be formally adopted.
IATA previously said that an agreement had been reached with airlines, slot coordinators and airports to ensure the fair use of the waiver throughout winter. Let’s hope they can stick to it.
https://simpleflying.com/europe-extends-80-20-slot-rule-suspension-for-winter-season/
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See earlier:
UK airlines can keep airport slots this summer without having to use them
UK airlines including British Airways, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic will hang on to lucrative take-off and landing slots without having to use them this summer after the DfT extended waivers to airport slot rules. Airlines have parked their fleets during the pandemic, prompting the suspension of rules forcing airlines to “use or lose” their slots 80% of the time. The suspension of the requirement has been opposed by rival airlines Ryanair and Wizz Air, as they hope to profit from the disruption in the industry. Gatwick is also unhappy, as it hoped to trap airlines there, while they would prefer to go to Heathrow. The body, ACI, controls the slot market and slot allocation. The decision indicates that the DfT and Grant Shapps are expecting another difficult summer for the European airline industry as travel curbs widen. The suspension will be a relief for BA, EasyJet and Virgin as they have been able to trim back their schedules while hanging on to spots at capacity-constrained airports. Airlines may decide there are better opportunities for growth [they always want to grow, regardless of the climate crisis] through gaining slot rights elsewhere in Europe.
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