The UK government has asked for the EU to relax airport slot rules, which have led to the phenomenon of empty “ghost flights”.
The European Commission, in charge of the rules on the continent, has relaxed the regulations for flights to China but has not extended this to other destinations.
Current laws mean airlines must operate 80 per cent of their allocated slots or face losing the right to it for the next season. However, with coronavirus damaging demand, airlines are flying low capacity aircraft to avoid losing their berth in future.
Aviation demand is reduced due to COVID-19, but airlines are being forced to fly some ‘ghost flights’ to avoid losing their slots – bad news for the environment, airlines & passengers. I've written to the regulator to request urgent reconsideration of 80% slot utilisation rule. pic.twitter.com/OsKEH2S4Ab
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) March 5, 2020
The UK’s Transport Minister, Grant Shapps, said the issue of ghosts flights is “both problematic for the airlines and needlessly damaging to our environment”.
Minister Shapps added, “I am deeply concerned that the 80:20 ‘use it or lost it’ rule under Regulation 95/93 is compounding the risk of airlines flying empty or near empty aircraft primarily to avoid losing their historic rights.
“Such behaviour would be entirely out of step with both the United Kingdom and European Union’s climate commitments.
“I know the European Commission has already recommended, and the United Kingdom coordinator has granted, alleviation from the 80:20 rule for flights to and from mainland China and Hong Kong, a step which has been welcomed across the industry.
“Given the international nature of COVID-19, I believe that this alleviation should now be widened.”
Virgin Atlantic has become the latest airline to admit to the practice, with chief executive Shai Weiss saying in a statement, “Passenger demand for air travel has dramatically fallen due to COVID-19 and in some instances, we are being forced to fly almost empty planes or lose our valuable slots.”
Last week, World of Aviation reported how the International Air Transport Association made a similar plea to world regulators.
Alexandre de Juniac, chief executive of IATA, said, “Traffic has collapsed on key Asian routes and this is rippling throughout the air transport network globally, even between countries without major outbreaks of COVID-19.
“We are calling for regulators worldwide to help the industry plan for today’s emergency, and the future recovery of the network, by suspending the slot use rules on a temporary basis.”
IATA is a trade association representing 290 airlines or 82 per cent of the total air traffic.
The association estimates that 43 per cent of all passengers depart from more than 200 slot-coordinated airports.
Failure to comply with the 80 per cent rule usually means the airline loses the right to it for the next equivalent season.
However, there is precedent for these regulations to be relaxed.
Already, regulators are waiving these rules, but primarily for operations to China and Hong Kong.
IATA wants a worldwide policy to help airlines plan better, saying in a statement, “Suspending the requirement for the entire season (to October 2020) will mean that airlines can respond to market conditions with appropriate capacity levels, avoiding any need to run empty services in order to maintain slots.
“Aircraft can be reallocated to other routes or parked, crew can have certainty on their schedules.”
De Juniac added, “The world is facing a huge challenge to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while enabling the global economy to continue functioning.
“Airlines are on the front line of that challenge and it’s essential that the regulatory community work with us to ensure airlines are able to operate in the most sustainable manner, both economically and environmentally, to alleviate the worst impacts of the crisis.”
