Ghost flights: empty planes cross Europe to keep airport slots

[DirtyProp]

I can't post links yet, please search for

thenationalnews@com/world/europe/2022/01/06/ghost-flights-empty-planes-cross-europe-to-keep-airport-slots

The EU is being urged to relax airline rules that led to thousands of empty planes crossing Europe over the winter, prompting concerns over the effect on the climate and unnecessary waste of resources.

German airline Lufthansa said it would have to run 18,000 empty flights during the winter to keep its airport slots.

Its Belgian subsidiary, Brussels Airlines, expects 3,000 such trips by the end of March.

The so-called “use it or lose it” rule means that airlines must use 80 per cent of their allocated slots at airports or risk losing their take-off and landing rights to other carriers.

Although the EU reduced this to 50 per cent after air travel slumped during the pandemic, the threshold will rise again this summer, and critics say it is still too high given the unpredictable effects of the Omicron variant.

[Magplug]

God bless the EU!

Meanwhile the Greens are having nightmares about Chemtrails and the hundreds of empty aeroplanes racing across the sky needlessly burning fossil fuels. The Insulation Rebellion zealots will be out again super-gluing their faces to the M25 in protest.

[Less Hair]

How about just returning any unneeded slots so the next guy can make use of them? Airports like EGKK could offer capacity instead of being considered maxed out by fantasy flights.

[Denti]

It seems to be a problem only to the Lufthansa Group. Haven't read (this time) any other airline group complaining about the still very much relaxed slot rules. Now, Lufthansa very much likes to spend the tens of billions in government support on public relations exercises like this one and of course in acquiring other failing airlines like ITA, distorting competition like nobody else does.

[Kiltrash]

I expect DRUK along soon with statistics but looking at FR 24 fir Heathrow if they are flying empty planes to keep slots you would expect the volume of flights to be at pre pandemic levels....they are not ...visually

[Del Prado]

Airlines need to use 70% of U.K. airport slots or lose them, in the EU the threshold is 64%.
Grant Shapps says this is another brexit win.

Willie Walsh incensed.


https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/shake-up-to-end-polluting-ghost-flights-8dxcr6qc6

[Del Prado]

I do remember an Aigle Azur banderantie used to visit heathrow regularly on this sort of service. Isn’t there an opportunity here to use training flights to keep the slots?

[edi_local]

I thought the airliens were making money off these ghost planes by offering then as cargo flights in a lot of instances?

It seems silly to keep slots going in the hope they can be used again..surely cash strapped airlines would be bett r selling off excessive slots rather than wasting money on empty planes?

[A320LGW]

I thought the airliens were making money off these ghost planes by offering then as cargo flights in a lot of instances?

It seems silly to keep slots going in the hope they can be used again..surely cash strapped airlines would be bett r selling off excessive slots rather than wasting money on empty planes?

The slots will be a lot more valuable once the industry reaches full speed again and some slots would be gone forever if you sold them. You would be grossly underselling to sell them now, hence why airlines would rather keep them and fly empty instead of selling.

[chaps1954]

My son flew MAN-MUC-MAN couple of weeks ago with LH out on A320 back A319 only about 10 seats to spare both ways

[DaveReidUK]

I expect DRUK along soon with statistics but looking at FR 24 for Heathrow if they are flying empty planes to keep slots you would expect the volume of flights to be at pre pandemic levels....they are not ...visually

You rang? :O

Some illustrative totals (monthly movements):
January 2020: 38 112
January 2021: 10 114
January 2022: 22 434