On Friday 13 November, the European Commission recommended the extension until 2021 of some of the temporary measures that came into force in May (see EUROPE 12492/6) to provide relief to aircraft operators and ground handlers in the context of the Covid-19 crisis.
More specifically, these measures were intended to enable airlines facing financial difficulties due to the pandemic, to retain their operating licences.
They also gave them the right to replace a groundhandling service provider in an emergency in the event of its sudden bankruptcy.
Finally, they guaranteed that groundhandling service providers whose contracts expire before the end of 2021 would be able to keep those contracts until 2022, in order to have easier access to loans.
On the basis of the conclusions of a report carried out on its own initiative, the Commission has decided to extend for one year the derogations relating to operating licences and the selection of groundhandling agents. These derogations were originally due to expire on 31 December 2020.
On the other hand, the institution does not consider, at this stage, that an extension of the derogation allowing groundhandling contracts to be extended until 31 December 2022 is necessary. It will continue to monitor the situation, it says.
Nor will the flexibility that has been offered to Member States since May on flight bans be extended, as other health measures have “been found to be more effective at controlling the spread of the virus”, the Commission says.
Passenger traffic down
On Sunday, 15 November, the threshold of 1.5 billion air passengers lost this year was crossed, the Airports Council International said in a statement on Monday, 16 November.
According to the organisation, passenger traffic is currently down by 86% on average compared to 2019 at airports in the EU, the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland and the UK. A downward trend that is expected to continue in the coming months. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)