IATA’s Walsh hits out at European Commission’s approach to slot rules

IATA DG Willie Walsh has hit out at continued uncertainty over EC plans for airport slot rules this winter, amid concerns the strong uptick in summer capacity will prompt too high a threshold for minimum use levels being set. European regulators temporarily suspended the existing ‘use it or lose it’ airport slots rules – which require airlines to operate 80% of slots in a season to retain them for the following year – when the pandemic first hit last summer. That alleviation continued last winter and again this summer, albeit with a requirement for airlines to operate 50% of their slots to retain them for summer 2022. The Commission is still to formally publish proposals for the coming northern hemisphere winter season, which begins at the end of October. European transport commissioner Adina Valean told delegates at the Airlines for Europe (A4E) Summit last month that it was still evaluating the data before deciding on the levels. But in a blog post, Walsh hits out at the European Commission’s approach to the issue and raises concerns that it is looking at implementing a 60% threshold for the coming winter season. ”Clearly when demand is down 80%, greater flexibility is required – otherwise, unnecessary flights to destinations where demand is non-existent will occur. This is why for the first year of the crisis the 80-20 rule was suspended. And to reinstate a significant threshold now, above say 30%, would be a clear policy failure. Yet that is the prospect facing the industry today,” Walsh says.<br/>