RT.com
14 Jan 2022, 23:42 GMT+10
The European Commission claims EU rules don?t oblige air carriers to fly
EU authorities are urging airlines to stop operating empty flights as they are economically inefficient and bad for the environment, saying that making empty or near-empty trips is a commercial decision for each carrier.
EU rules therefore do not oblige airlines to fly or to keep empty planes in the air. On the contrary, they permit the avoidance of empty flights, according to a senior spokesman for the European Commission, Stefan De Keersmaecker.
"Deciding to operate routes or not is a commercial decision by the airline company and not a result of EU rules," he wrote on Twitter.
The official cited data and forecasts from Eurocontrol, which reported that initial traffic from 2022 was at 77% of pre-pandemic rates.
"In addition to the lower slot use rates, companies may also request a 'justified non-use exception' - to not use a slot - if the route cannot be operated because of sanitary measures, e.g. when new variants emerge during the pandemic," Keersmaecker added.
Last week, Europe's second-biggest carrier Lufthansa confirmed that 18,000 flights had been flown empty due to intense regulatory pressure and despite the economic and environmental consequences. Nearly 3,000 of those journeys were operated by the carrier's subsidiary, Brussels Airlines.
Under the 'use it or lose it' regulations, European airlines are normally forced to operate flights in at least 80% of their scheduled takeoff and landing slots in order to retain the right to use those slots.
The rule was suspended by the EU at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, but reintroduced at the level of 50% last spring. However, in December, the EC said the current 50% threshold would be raised to 64% for this year's April-to-November summer flight season.
Back then, the Belgian federal government referred the matter to the EC, urging it to rethink the rules on securing slots.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of South East Asia Post news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to South East Asia Post.
More InformationMOSCOW, Russia: Just hours after his sudden dismissal by President Vladimir Putin, Russia's former transport minister, Roman Starovoit,...
DHARAMSHALA, India: The Dalai Lama turned 90 on July 6, celebrated by thousands of followers in the Himalayan town of Dharamshala,...
ZAGREB, Croatia: A massive concert by popular Croatian singer Marko Perković, known by his stage name Thompson, has drawn widespread...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Elon Musk's entry into the political arena is drawing pushback from top U.S. officials and investors, as his decision...
CULVER CITY, California: TikTok is preparing to roll out a separate version of its app for U.S. users, as efforts to secure a sale...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump claimed he was unaware that the term shylock is regarded as antisemitic when he used it in...
LONDON, U.K.: This week, BP appointed Simon Henry, former Shell finance chief, to its board as a non-executive director effective September...
OTTAWA, Canada: With Canada Post struggling to maintain operations amid labour unrest, rivals like FedEx and UPS are stepping in to...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. and global markets showed a mixed performance in Tuesday's trading session, with some indices edging higher...
PARIS, France: French military and intelligence officials have accused China of orchestrating a covert campaign to damage the reputation...
NEW DELHI, India: Birkenstock is stepping up its efforts to protect its iconic sandals in India, as local legal representatives conducted...
HONG KONG: China has fired back at the European Union in an escalating trade dispute by imposing new restrictions on medical device...