Is the European sky doomed to be crossed by planes without passengers? The controversy around this absurd practice from an environmental point of view has not weakened since the words of the CEO of the German company Lufthansa at the end of December. “Due to weak demand in January, we would have reduced even more flights, but we have to make 18,000 more unnecessary flights this winter”, Carsten Spohr told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (in German) shortly before Christmas.
This announcement scandalized many Internet users, who joked about the injunction made to citizens to adopt ecological behavior at the same time, such as “to pee in the shower”. But the indignation especially quickly won the political leaders, the environmental MEP Karima Delli going so far as to ask the European Commission to intervene so as not to let the airlines carry out such “ghost flights”.
18,000 flights #luftansa currently fly empty in Europe, due to the “use it or lose it” rule.
This situation is ecological as well as economic absurdity.
As chairman of the Transport Committee, I seized the @EU_Commission so that it stops! pic.twitter.com/KGc7gC5U9Q– Karima Delli (@KarimaDelli) January 4, 2022
In her letter, the elected ecologist, who is also president of the European Parliament’s transport and tourism committee, denounces the “use it or lose it” rule which governs the use of airline slots at airports. Clearly, Air France, Lufthansa, Iberia, Ryanair, etc. have specific time slots (“slots” in English) to take off and land their planes in the various airports of the Old Continent. Before the Covid-19 crisis, it was imperative for a company to use at least 80% of these slots, otherwise they would be redistributed for the benefit of the competition.
Due to the drastic drop in the number of passengers due to the health crisis, the European authorities suspended the “use it or lose it” rule in March 2020 so as not to penalize airlines too much. Faced with the resumption of traffic in 2021, the European Commission decided last March to set the threshold for the use of slots at 50%, triggering the anger of airlines who still consider it too high, in a time of a pandemic.
To justify the “18,000 unnecessary flights” of Lufthansa, the CEO of the German giant highlights the rigidity of the rules of the European Commission in a situation of low demand – because of the pandemic. With a lowered threshold and easier cancellations, it would indeed be easier to keep the current slots, crucial for restarting the industry, which hopes to return to its pre-crisis level in 2023. This is the official position of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents the vast majority of companies.
“Despite our pressing demands for more flexibility, the EU has approved a 50% usage rule (…) clearly unrealistic”
A spokesperson for the International Air Transport Associationto AFP
In addition to being considered unrealistic by the companies, this regulation is “economic, ecological and social nonsense”, adds the Belgian Minister of Transport, Georges Gilkinet, who asked Monday January 3 for a relaxation of the rules to the European Commission.
Is the European Union guilty of imposing “ghost flights” on companies? False, answers Brussels: “The aim of slot relief in the EU is precisely to ensure that airlines can retain their historic slots without having to fly empty when health restrictions prevent passengers from traveling.”, defended the European Commission to the Parisian, Friday January 7.
For ACI Europe, an association that brings together European airports, the airlines have, in reality, “no reason to fly empty planes in Europe”, she explains in a press release (in English). The representative of the airports cites the clause of “justified non-use of slots”, extended last December 15 by the European Commission.
“This provision covers not only outright travel bans, but also travel restrictions, quarantine or isolation measures that affect the viability or ability to travel or the demand for travel on specific routes. . “
ACI Europein a press release
In other words, the organization refers Lufthansa to this clause to keep its planes on the ground while retaining its slots.
In addition, with a view to a return to the situation prior to the pandemic (the famous initial threshold of 80%), the European Commission announced on December 15 a gradual increase of this threshold from 50% to 64%, between March and October 2022. With the uncertainty generated by the Omicron variant, the standoff between airlines and airports is far from over in the battle for slots.