IATA is contacting aviation regulators worldwide
to request that the rules governing use of airport slots be
suspended immediately and for the 2020 season, due to the impact
of COVID19 outbreak.
Around 43% of all passengers depart from over 200
slot coordinated airports worldwide. At present, the rules for
slot allocation mean that airlines must operate at least 80% of
their allocated slots under normal circumstances. Failure to
comply with this means the airline loses its right to the slot the
next equivalent season. In exceptional circumstances, regulators
can relax this requirement.
The COVID19 crisis has already had a severe
impact on air traffic and airlines are experiencing serious declines
in demand, including:
- A carrier experiencing a 26% reduction across
their entire operation in comparison to last year;
- A hub carrier reporting bookings to Italy down
108% as bookings collapse to zero and refunds grow;
- Many carriers reporting 50% no-shows across
several markets; and
- Future bookings are softening and carriers are
reacting with measures such as crew being given unpaid leave,
freezing of pay increases, and plans for aircraft to be grounded.
Given these extraordinary circumstances as a
result of the public health emergency, the collective view of the
airline industry is that applying the 80% rule during the
upcoming season is inappropriate. Flexibility is needed for airlines
to adjust their schedules according to extraordinary demand
developments.
Regulators have already been waiving the slot
rules on a rolling basis during the COVID19 crisis primarily for
operations to China and Hong Kong SAR. However, given the recent
further outbreaks this is no longer contained to the Asia markets.
Without certainty that these waivers will continue for the summer
season (or winter season in the southern hemisphere), airlines are
unable to plan ahead sufficiently to ensure efficient rostering of
crew or deployment of aircraft.
Suspending the requirement for the entire season
(to October 2020) will mean that airlines can respond to market
conditions with appropriate capacity levels, avoiding any need to
run empty services in order to maintain slots. Aircraft can be
reallocated to other routes or parked, crew can have certainty on
their schedules.
“IATA research has shown that traffic has
collapsed on key Asian routes and that this is rippling throughout
the air transport network globally, even between countries without
major outbreaks of COVID19. There are precedents for previous
suspension of the slot use rules and we believe the circumstances
again calls for a suspension to be granted. We are calling for
regulators worldwide to help the industry plan for today’s
emergency, and the future recovery of the network, by suspending
the slot use rules on a temporary basis,“ said Alexandre de Juniac,
IATA’s Director General and CEO. “The world is facing a huge
challenge to prevent the spread of COVID19 while enabling the
global economy to continue functioning. Airlines are on the front
line of that challenge and it’s essential that the regulatory
community work with us to ensure airlines are able to operate in
the most sustainable manner, both economically and
environmentally, to alleviate the worst impacts of the crisis.”
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