Brussels asks to extend the flexibility of winter landing ‘slots’ for airlines

Brussels asks to extend the flexibility of winter landing ‘slots’ for European airlines.

The European Commission has asked to extend- until the winter season- the flexibility that allows reducing during the pandemic the number of flights that companies must operate at an airport to avoid losing their slots in consecutive seasons, a measure that was designed during the pandemic to avoid “ghost flights”.

Brussels is calling for a reduction from the usual 80% to 50% of the minimum number of frequencies required from an airline on certain routes in order to maintain its pre-crisis flight rights at each airport.

The temporary change in the rules proposed by the EU executive will still require the formal approval of the EU-27 and the European Parliament for it to become effective. The proposal was handed in today, Monday, July 26.

European regulations oblige airlines to operate at least 80% of their allocated slots for the season and failure to comply with this requirement normally means losing the right to slots in subsequent seasons.

This situation meant that in the early stages of the pandemic, airlines kept many flights that were considered as “ghost flights” – which were empty due to the confinement and border closure measures – operating them for fear of losing their future slots.

Brussels then amended the regulation temporarily to give airlines more flexibility and is now offering another revision for the winter season because it estimates that air traffic will continue to be affected compared to the capacity of pre-pandemic periods.

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