14/10/2020 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission adopted on Wednesday 14 October an extension to the derogation from the EU rules on the use of airport slots (see EUROPE 12456/17). The Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, had already announced this decision last month (see EUROPE 12559/6), after publishing a report on data for air traffic harmed by Covid-19. “By extending the derogation, we are responding to traffic data, which shows that [...] unfortunately, traffic is unlikely to increase again in the near future”, she commented. The Commission estimates that air traffic is expected to still be down by 50% in February 2021. Finally, it calls on the players in the sector to respect the conditions they had set themselves for this extension (see EUROPE 12553/4), “pending the adoption of fully enforceable conditions”. (AC)