Frankfurt (Reuters) – In the dispute over the EU rules on take-off and landing rights in aviation, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) supports Lufthansa’s position.
Wissing wrote to EU Transport Commissioner Adina Valean for short-term relief from the regulations due to the worsening corona crisis in air traffic, a spokeswoman for the ministry said on Monday. The reason is the climate-damaging effects of the currently applicable slot rules. Wissing will discuss this personally with Valean on Tuesday. The “Rheinische Post” was the first to report about it.
Lufthansa canceled more than 30,000 flights at the beginning of the year due to a slump in demand against the background of the aggravated situation in the pandemic, which is increasingly leading to stricter travel regulations worldwide. The airline group had said it had to let 18,000 flights take off just to keep its slots. This is in contradiction to the climate protection policy of the EU. Lufthansa lobbyist Kay Lindemann told the “Tagesspiegel” last week that flights were not empty, but only underutilized. Exceptions to the quota often fail because the authorities in the country of departure and arrival have to agree and that doesn’t work.
Airlines normally have to use 80 percent of their rights constantly so as not to have to release them to competitors. The rate was reduced due to the Corona crisis and will be 50 percent by the end of March. Then it should rise to 64 percent, because it is assumed that the number of bookings will recover. Budget airlines Ryanair and Wizz are pushing for the original slot rule to be reinstated. The airlines want to quickly expand their range of flights. Ryanair accused Lufthansa of wanting to restrict competition to the detriment of consumers with their initiative.
So far, the EU Commission has made no move to change the current regulations. A spokesman said last week that there was no evidence of empty flights, not even from Lufthansa. According to data from the European aviation authority Eurocontrol, flight operations in the winter season reached 73 to 78 percent of the pre-crisis level of 2019.