Ghost flights are driving Europe crazy. Here's what it's all about
Lufthansa's CEO breaks the case: airlines have started flying EMPTY planes for [...]
Ryanair
Lufthansa
The CEO of Lufthansa breaks out the case: airlines have started flying planes EMPTY so as not to miss the rights of Slot At airports.
"Because of the reduced demand in January, we would even cancel many more flights than we have already had to cancel (about 33,000 flights ed.). But in the winter, we will have to make 18,000 extra unnecessary flights just to guarantee our takeoff and landing rights."
Carsten Spohr, CEO of Lufthansa
In this article:
The decline in the question In these now 2 years of pandemic has been drastic. As a result of the recent surge of infections, due to the Omicron variant, in January were thousands of flights canceled, forcing many airlines to run for cover. Some of these, such as Lufthansa, are forced to make flights without passengers not to lose slots (so much for of eco-sustainability many would say...)
What are Airport Slots?
The airport "Slot" is also referred to as the "slot" and it is the permit to land and take off at an airport, at a specific day and at a specific time, with flexibility by 10 to 15 minutes, that is, if the flight is scheduled at 12:30, the slot starts from the 12:15/20. Around the slot are all the services attached, such as the infrastructure that is needed to operate air flights, both in takeoff which landing, which are 2 slots separated.
In Europe, the rule applies. "Use it or lose it" that is, you either use it or you lose it, a principle that precisely led some airlines to operate so-called "ghost flights." The general rule required airlines to operate at least the 80% of flights, after the pandemic the percentage is dropped And the guaranteed flights were supposed to be half. But, apparently, to date the 50% is also too much.
Ryanair v. Lufthansa
Ryanair has hurled against Lufthansa's decision by accusing it of using ghost flights out of fear of the competition of lowcost airlines and saying that those of the German company are "crocodile tears."
"The solution is simple, Lufthansa should sell seats on these flights at low fares and reward European consumers, many of whom have financed the 12 billion euros in state aid that Lufthansa and its subsidiaries in Belgium, Austria and Switzerland have already received from taxpayers hard hit over the past two years by the Covid crisis.
Lufthansa likes to cry crocodile tears for the environment while doing everything it can to protect its slots. Slots are the means by which it blocks competition and limits choice in major hubs such as Frankfurt, Brussels Zaventem and Vienna."
Michael O'Leary, Ryanair CEO
La environmental issue is not insignificant, for years airlines have boasted of fighting for thezeroing the carbon footprint, planting trees and offsetting emissions with tickets and various fees in addition to the agreements they have with the European Commission. However, if then the companies themselves operate flights with few passengers or even empty, What was it all for?
Belgium's transport minister calls on the European Commission to intervene so that there are new reductions and slot concessions, but EU transport commissioner Adina Valean is inflexible and argues that the facilities are already there and that Omicron's impact will not be as lasting.
A tug-of-war that does not seem to be resolving itself, all to the detriment of theenvironment and of the consumers, who saw themselves delete hundreds of flights only to see planes traveling empty....
How much does a Slot cost?
At this point the curiosity takes over, generally speaking it depends of course on the typology Of airport, if it is an airport that predominantly operates flights national o International, from season And many other factors.
Taking a practical example, after the dissolution of Alitalia, the company has lost several Slots around the world, one of the most famous losses was that of the slots at London Heathrow that were "stolen" by Etihad Airways, which was actually the rightful owner who had rented them to Alitalia (yes, Slots can be rented).
The 68 weekly Slots cost Alitalia. 3.76 million of euros per year, or about 10.000€ per day, an average of just over €1,000 per plane arriving or departing, figures that would actually seem quite reasonable.
But in some cases the numbers skyrocket. Oman Air spent a couple of slots at Air France-KLM, always at Heathrow, to the astronomical figure of 70 million. Going overseas instead, American Airlines disbursed 60 million to SAS always for a couple of Slots, even though AA claimed a few years ago to have made a capital gain of over 380 million dollars from the for sale of Slots that he used very little.
The value of slots change depending on the scale of the airport: if an airport operates the 100% of its flights and all slots are Occupy yourself, clearly the value increases.
We will see how the story of the PHANTOM FLIGHTS, sure is that operating empty flights is not exactly great for the environment--and what do you think? Let us know in the comments!
