The European Commission has announced a waiver of the 80:20 ‘use it or lose it’ slot allocation rule for the 2020-2021 winter season. The waiver conditions agreed between airlines, airports and slot co-ordinators earlier in September will be applied immediately on a voluntary basis, says European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Valean. The decision affects the roughly 100 slot-constrained airports covered by the Commission’s regulatory oversight – which is around half of such facilities worldwide – and follows a vocal pro-waiver campaign from bodies including IATA and, in recent weeks, airports association ACI Europe. “Air traffic levels remain low, and more importantly, they are not likely to recover in the near future,” Valean states in explaining the decision to implement a waiver. “In this context, the lack of certainty over slots makes it difficult for airlines to plan their schedules, making planning difficult for airports and passengers.” Valean cites, however, “certain problems with the current waiver”, which prevent efficient use of airport capacity. These issues “must be remedied”, she suggests. “Slots are not always relinquished in time for other users or airports to plan operations as they would like; competition may also be distorted if airlines seek to benefit by increasing their market presence without using their slots and airport capacity correctly,” Valean explains. “Such behaviour can hamper competition and can, therefore, harm EU passengers and freight customers.” The Commission is therefore consulting the public and stakeholders on how the industry will return to “a normal slot regime” once air traffic returns to “more stable levels”. Proposals are expected before the end of the year. Several regulators in Africa, Asia and the Americas had already agreed to a waiver of the 80:20 rule for the winter season. ACI Europe joined forces with airline bodies and slot co-ordinators to announce a theoretical framework for a waiver of the 80:20 rule on 3 September. That the conditions were agreed to by ACI Europe marked a shift in thinking from the airports body, which had expressed some reservations regarding the issue of waivers. Speaking to FlightGlobal in July, IATA’s head of worldwide airport slots Lara Maughan stressed the urgency of the winter-waiver situation for airlines seeking to know the terms on which network-planning decisions were being made. The flexibility afforded by a waiver is fair in the current crisis, Maughan suggested, particularly when few, if any, carriers expect to reach 80% of their pre-coronavirus capacity in the coming months.

Source: Cirium

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has completed its test flights of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft ahead of its possible recertification and return to service later this year. The test flights took place over the course of three days this week in Vancouver, Canada, due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions, the European regulatory agency says on 11 September. EASA did not say how many flights took place during that time, or what scenarios were tested. “EASA has been working steadily, in close cooperation with the FAA and Boeing, to return the Boeing 737 Max aircraft to service as soon as possible, but only once we are convinced it is safe,” EASA says. The Federal Aviation Administration completed its own flight tests of the type on 1 July, but there is still no indication of when the jet will be released to fly again in revenue service. The aircraft’s recertification flights were an important milestone in the process to bring the troubled aircraft back, but numerous steps are still required. EASA says it is now analysing the data collected during the flights ahead of the Joint Operations Evaluation Board (JOEB), scheduled to begin in London next week. The JOEB is composed of pilots from US and international 737 Max operators and is tasked with evaluating 737 Max pilot training. It will send information and data to the FAA’s Flight Standardisation Board, which will make the FAA’s final training recommendations. The 737 Max was grounded worldwide in March 2019 after two separate accidents killed 346 passengers and crew. The aircraft’s new Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) was at fault in both crashes. In August, the FAA suggested four key design changes to the beleaguered aircraft in order to address the safety issues that led to the crashes. The proposed Airworthiness Directive (AD) includes proposals that will enhance the safety of the aircraft as well as the ability of the cockpit crew to deal with potential issues. The public comment period for the proposed AD ends later this month. Boeing also said in August that it intends to deliver a majority of its 450-strong 737 Max stockpile within one year of resuming deliveries of the still-grounded jet. Boeing accumulated those aircraft because it continued manufacturing the Max through most of 2019 despite being unable to deliver the jets due to the worldwide grounding.

Source: Cirium

Passenger numbers at Amsterdam Schiphol airport declined in the second half of August as a recovery in travel demand appeared to run out of steam. During the first half of August, 60-70,000 passengers travelled through the Dutch hub per day. But that number declined to 50-60,000 during the second half. "While the number of fights remained steady, there was a drop in the number of passengers from mid-August onwards," says Schiphol. "A decline in traveller numbers is a normal occurrence at the end of the summer holidays, but now at a lower level than usual." The airport suggests that increased infection rates and travel restrictions across Europe will hinder a recovery during September. "We expect the amount of daily flights to vary between 700 and 900, and the number of passengers to decrease to between 35,000 and 60,000 per day." The total number of aircraft taking off and landing at Schiphol during August decreased 49% compared to last year, to 23,125 flights. By passenger numbers, the decline was greater –1.85 million passengers travelled through the airport compared to 6.81 million a year prior, a 73% decline. Long-haul traffic has seen a greater decline and shallower recovery than for European flights, a development that tallies with other airports across Europe. Cargo flights increased over August to 2,188 – an 83% increase – although tonnage declined 8%. August’s traffic figures mean that Schiphol processed more passengers than London Heathrow or Frankfurt airports during that month Heathrow and Frankfurt reported 1.4 million and 1.51 million passengers in August, respectively.

Source: Cirium