Like the International Air Transport Association (IATA) last week, the organisation Airlines for Europe called on the EU, on Thursday 25 June, to extend the suspension of the European airport slot regulation (see EUROPE 12456/17).
This regulation obliges airlines to operate at least 80% of the take-off and landing slots reserved for them at European airports. Companies continued to comply with this rule at the beginning of the crisis, fearing that their slots would be allocated to competitors, even if it meant flying empty aircrafts.
In order to put an end to this situation, the EU has allowed them to derogate from the regulation until 24 October 2020 (see EUROPE 12457/21), providing that this derogation may be extended by a delegated act of the Commission.
This is precisely what Airlines for Europe is calling for. The organisation advocates for an extension of the derogation to the winter season 2020/2021, i.e. until 27 March.
It points out that the sector is going through a serious financial crisis and argues that, “bookings are at historical lows”, making timetable planning difficult.
But this operational flexibility for airlines comes at a high cost to airports, says Airports Council International (ACI), also noting that many organisations report that airlines are planning to operate full programmes for the winter season.
For Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe, in light of the “considerable uncertainty about the pace and shape of the recovery in demand for air transport” there is no need to “rush with a decision on this just now”.
The Commission has been asked to prepare a report on the situation by 15 September. A spokesperson for the institution told EUROPE that “a decision will be taken on the basis of this report on whether or not to extend the derogation”, adding that the institution will try to reach a balanced solution when the time comes. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)