09/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 8 June, the EU Council of Ministers adopted the regulation relaxing rules for attribution of timeslots in EU airports (see EUROPE 9861). Presented by the European Commission in March this year to meet the financial and economic crisis faced by airlines, the regulation allows temporary suspension (from 29 March to 24 October 2009 to cover the summer period 2009) of the 80/20 rule which makes it an obligation for airlines to use at least 80% of the timeslots allocated to them, or risk losing them. This temporary measure will help airlines to cut costs by allowing them to cut capacity more easily at busy airports in the knowledge that the slots will be safeguarded for the next summer season 2010. Similar measures were adopted after the terrorist attacks in September 2001 and in 2003 after air traffic reduction caused by the Iraq war and SARS pandemic. (A.By./transl.jl)