Aviation
Commercial /
Europe
"Out of reality"
Iata condemns European Commission decision on winter slot usage limit
Aviões no aeroporto de Paris
Eric Salard, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rafael Ramos
7/27/2021
The European Commission (EC) has decided to set the winter slot usage limit at 50%. Thus, from November to April, airlines operating at airports with a slot system (limitation on the number of landings/takeoffs per hour) must use at least half of each series of slots they have.
The proposed changes will restrict the ability of airlines to respond to demand, which is changing rapidly. All of this can cause unnecessary flights to occur, increasing costs and harming the environment. Such a change can also hinder the financial recovery of companies.
Aviões no aeroporto de Lisboa
Ex13, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) was not satisfied and classified the decision as "unrealistic", and said that the European Commission ignored the evidence presented by the member states of the European Union and by the aviation sector itself, which defended a limit much lower.
The points covered by Iata are:
- The extent of intra-EU recovery is, at best, only a partial indicator of the extent of recovery at airports with limited slots, where key slots are needed for global traffic connections that have not yet been recovered. IATA estimates that international travel will only reach 34% of 2019 levels by the end of 2021.
- Winter demand is always below summer demand, even in good years. And the evidence for future reserves is that they are trending well below the levels seen last winter. Long-haul flight bookings to the EU are currently at an average of 20% of 2019 levels.
- Despite the launch of vaccines, governments remain extremely cautious about opening borders. The answer to the Covid-19 variants that are still worrying is to close borders or instigate quarantine measures that instantly kill the demand for travel. It is evident that the demand for air travel in Europe is still extremely weak and unpredictable.
“Once again, the Commission showed that it is out of step with reality. The civil aviation sector is still facing the worst crisis in its history. The Commission had an open objective of using slots regulation to promote a sustainable recovery for airlines, but it failed. Instead, they have shown contempt for the industry and the many member states that have repeatedly called for a more flexible solution, and have stubbornly continued to pursue a policy that is contrary to all the evidence presented to them,” said Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA.
The European commission, in turn, says the change is justified by the recovery in demand within the European Union this summer.
“It is a great irony that just a week after the Commission releases its 'Fit for 55' carbon emissions plan, it issues a slots regulation that could force airlines to fly regardless of whether there is sufficient demand for that route. Transport Commissioner Valean said we need to act with ambition for our planet, but without punishing our citizens or businesses. Clearly, this decision about slots does not meet these conditions,” said Walsh.
Contains information from IATA.
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Rafael Ramos
Aviation enthusiast from an early age, he had his first contacts with the area developing that good old habit of spending dozens of hours in front of the screens of Micrsoft Flight Simulator and other simulators. With a solid background in various technological areas, including engineering and chemistry, Rafael has rejoined aviation as editor and author of articles and materials on our portal, providing invaluable help to the dynamics and expansion of the website and the aeronautical community, bringing us the news and updates so indispensable for us to remain current in our area of operation.
   
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