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Use it or lose it Archives - Regional Gateway

Airports welcome EC proposal to reinstate standard slot usage rules

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On behalf of its airport members, Airports Council International (ACI) Europe has welcomed the European Commission’s proposal to return to normal airport slot usage rules for the upcoming Winter 22/23 season. The trade association is now calling on the EU Council and the European Parliament to support this proposal and expedite its approval.

The reinstated rules mean airlines will be required to use airport slots they have been allocated for 80% of the time in order to keep them during the following corresponding season. According to ACI Europe this will put an end to successive usage alleviation measures that have been in place since Spring 2020.

“Airports understood and accepted the need for slot waivers for airlines during the pandemic,” said Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe’s DG. “However, there is no question these waivers also came with forgone connectivity and forgone revenues for airports.”

The return to the 80:20 slot usage rule reflects the need to shift from protecting the airport slot portfolios of incumbent airlines to promoting an effective use of airport capacity and the restoration of Europe’s vital air connectivity – now that COVID-19 travel restrictions have been largely eased or even abolished both within Europe and in most other world regions.

Returning to the normal slot is consistent with the dynamic air traffic recovery underway and says Jankovec, “will give airlines the flexibility and protection they need when faced with travel restriction or the impact of the war on specific markets is the right thing to do now that air traffic is finally recovering.”

While the rest of Europe looks to return to normal airport slot usage rules, earlier this month the UK Government offered airlines a “slot amnesty” allowing them to voluntarily return slots for the Summer 2022 season without prejudicing their future allotments. Airlines were given until Friday 8 July to return their slots, a move which allows them to more realistically align their schedules without the fear of losing their coveted slots, by cancelling flights well ahead of their departure dates to enable both passengers and stakeholders to make alternative plans.

July 13, 2022

Dismay at rhetoric around “ghost flights” as airports trade body reiterates support for slot thresholds

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Airports Council International (ACI) Europe has expressed dismay at the escalating industry and political rhetoric around so-called “ghost flights” and reiterated its strong support for the European Commission’s position on the thresholds for use of airport slots by airlines.

The usage threshold for the current season, Winter 21, is set at 50%. This is, as the European Commission has reiterated, a significantly lower threshold than that set under the 80/20 “use it or lose it” principle applicable in normal times. It is designed to reflect the uncertainties of a badly hit market and fragile recovery for aviation.

Crucially, and as a direct result of the ongoing uncertainties posed by the pandemic, there is also in place a specific provision for what the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines calls “justified non-use of slots” (JNUS).

JNUS effectively allows airlines to use their allocated airport slots for less than 50% of the time. It is specifically designed to address the COVID pandemic and covers not only outright travel bans but also restrictions of movement, quarantine or isolation measures that impact the viability or possibility of travel or the demand for travel on specific routes.

It is therefore the case that, with a significantly reduced slot usage threshold and a specific provision for changing circumstances such as that presented by the Omicron variant, airlines are very well protected from the current uncertainties.

As a result, it is unclear why the issue of “ghost flights” is now under discussion. Ghost flights are defined as those voluntarily operated by airlines exclusively for the purpose of retaining historic rights to their slots. Accordingly, ghost flights are not offered for sale, carry no passengers and generate no revenue for airlines. Conversely, flights offered for sale, carrying passengers and generating revenue for airlines cannot be considered as ghost flights.

Low load factors have been a reality throughout the pandemic, but the retention of vital air connectivity for both economic and societal imperatives is well documented.

Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe, said: “A few airlines are claiming they are forced to run high volumes of empty flights in order to retain airport slot usage rights. There is absolutely no reason why this should be the reality. As was clearly stated by the European Commission, slot usage rules need to achieve two things in the current circumstances. Firstly, to protect airlines from the worst of unpredictabilities which are out of all our hands. Secondly, and crucially, to also ensure that airport capacity is still used in a pro-competitive way.

“The pandemic has hit us all hard. Balancing commercial viability alongside the need to retain essential connectivity and protect against anti-competitive consequences is a delicate task. We believe that the European Commission has got this right. Talk of ghost flights and of their environmental impacts seems to hint at a doomsday scenario which has no place in reality. Let’s stick to the vital task of recovering and rebuilding together.”

January 10, 2022