Slots are the airlines' cash cow. To keep them, companies must use a majority of their takeoff and landing slots, even if there are no passengers. 100,000 empty planes are expected to fly over Europe during the winter season, estimates the environmental organization Greenpeace.  

The EU's rules for the slot system mean, apart from temporary rule changes, that airlines must use 80 percent of their takeoff and landing slots at airports within the EU in order to keep them until next year.  

The system allows airlines to operate their routes even if there are no passengers, say critics. Now the future of the so-called ghost flights is to be discussed at an EU summit together with players in the aviation industry. At the same time, the EU is being criticized for its bureaucracy.

MEP Jakop Dalunde (MP) belongs to the EU's Green Group, which has questioned the Commission's rules on slot times several times.  

– They are worth an incredible amount in financial terms. There have been several occasions where slot times are the largest financial item on an airline's balance sheet.  

”Haven't seen evidence”

Stefan de Keersmaecker, the European Commission's spokesperson on transport issues, believes that it is difficult to get an overview of how big the problem with ghost flights is.  

– It is possible that the planes are not fully booked, but we have not seen evidence that empty planes are being flown. 

According to Greenpeace's calculations, 100,000 empty, or nearly empty, planes are expected to fly over Europe during the 2021-2022 winter season, but that figure is difficult to verify.

Anti-competitive 

Lufthansa Group states that 18,000 of its aircraft may be flown with few or no passengers during the winter.  

Ryan Air's CEO believes that Lufthansa can avoid the problems with empty planes by lowering ticket prices.  

Several low-cost airlines believe that the current rules for the slot system are anti-competitive as large companies can retain attractive slots even if they lack passengers, according to Transportföretagen's industry manager Fredrik Kempfe.  

How the system can change  

The Greens in the EU Parliament are proposing a market system where slots are auctioned off before each season instead and then owned by the companies – regardless of whether they are used or not. The Greens believe that the EU's current rules force airlines to make climate-friendly choices and that criticism of airlines is misdirected.  

– These are private companies operating in a free market. Why would they make economically irrational decisions where they risk losing slot times worth tens of millions of dollars or euros? Blame the political system instead for creating a regulatory framework that provides these bizarre incentives, says Jakop Dalunde (MP). 

The European Commission believes that all parts of air traffic should be adapted to meet the EU's climate goals and that lessons learned from the pandemic will be taken into account in any changes to the system.

Source: svt.se