The British government announced on Monday that airlines should use 70% of their take-off and landing slots from the summer to avoid losing them, compared to 50% today, raising fears of almost empty flights.
Read alsoWhy French airlines are little affected by flight cancellations
Avoid “
ghost flights
”
The companies will benefit from “
increased flexibility when they justify not being able to use them
”, specified the government, saying that it wanted to avoid “
ghost flights
”, provided by companies only to retain their rights.
But this decision could “
force the companies
” to fly flights carrying only a small number of passengers, warned Monday the general manager of IAG, parent company of British Airways and Iberia, Luis Gallego.
“
It is inconceivable that international demand will average 70% (of normal) this summer.
The government therefore condemns the airlines to operate thousands of low occupancy flights, which is ecologically stupid
“Added the director general of the International Air Transport Association (Iata), Willie Walsh.
In normal times, companies must use at least 80% of the take-off and landing slots allocated to them at airports, otherwise they lose their rights the following season.
These rules were rendered inapplicable by the health crisis, which caused the collapse of air traffic since March 2020, and were suspended and then relaxed in the United Kingdom, as in the European Union.
London airports welcomed the decision.
Gatwick, particularly affected by flight cancellations, spoke of "
a very welcome boost
“, in a statement sent to AFP.
The European Commission, for its part, plans to raise this level to 64% from April 2022. The level of 50% of slots to be used was already considered excessive by many players in a sector still recovering.
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Air France-KLM supports Lufthansa
“
While demand for international travel is back
”, the British executive explained in its press release that it had chosen not to return to normal conditions of 80% to continue to support one of the sectors hardest hit by the crisis. pandemic. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr warned at the end of December that the German company would be forced to perform "
18,000 unnecessary flights
" during the winter "
only to retain its take-off and landing rights
". “
Crocodile
tears”, had tackled Ryanair, suggesting to Lufthansa to lower the price of seats to reward the European taxpayers who supported it, rather than saying that it was obliged to fly empty planes.
Read alsoLufthansa should take 40% of the Italian company ITA
Air France-KLM had supported Lufthansa by asking European regulators on Friday to be more flexible in controlling take-off and landing slots.
In addition, good news for the aviation sector, which has been asking for it for months, the British government announced on Monday that it would lift the obligation to carry out a screening for Covid-19 for fully vaccinated travelers arriving in England.
The values of the sector fell despite everything in London, carried away by the depression on the markets on Monday.
Around 3:50 p.m. GMT, IAG lost 5.21% to 149.58 pence and Easyjet fell 3.85% to 604 pence.
Companies are "
trapped in a downward spiral
" in the markets due to fears of conflict in Ukraine and because the lifting of restrictions "
had already been initiated last week by the British government
,” according to Susannah Streeter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
And while waiting for a decision from the US Federal Reserve (Fed) on Tuesday on rates, investors are “
leaving behind more risky and indebted companies
”, such as airlines, adds Victoria Scholar, analyst at Interactive Investor.
