Under-used slots by air carriers

Under-used slots by air carriers

Rome [ENA] Under current rules (EU Airport Slots Regulation (EEC 95/93)), aircraft take-off and landing slots are allocated in the EU solely by independent coordinators for the summer or winter scheduling seasons. If an air carrier has used a series of slots for at least 80% of the time during a given season, it will retain it in the next corresponding season (this convention is referred to as 'historical slots',

'grandfather rights' or the '80-20 rule'). Otherwise, the slots go back into the pool for reallocation. Consequently, slots that are under-used by air carriers are reallocated (known as the 'use it or lose it' rule). The 'use it or lose it' rule has, however, been temporarily suspended on a number of occasions in the past, for example following the events of 11 September 2001; during the Iraq war; during the SARS epidemic in 2003 and, in 2009, in response to the economic crisis and its impact on air carriers. It is important to suspend this rule also in the COVID19 recent situation.

Under-used slots by air carriers

“It is in no one’s interest to fly empty aircraft and it comes at great environmental and economic cost. We need to stop this practice and make sure that the aviation industry can cope with the current extraordinary circumstances caused by the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Transport Committee Chair Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, FR). The slot allocation rules always concern the next corresponding season. The slots for summer 2020 were already confirmed last year. There will be enough time to start legislative work on this crucial issue.