The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is contacting aviation regulators worldwide to request that the rules governing the use of airport slots be suspended immediately and for the 2020 season due to the impact of COVID-19 (the coronavirus).
Around 43 per cent of all passengers depart from over 200 slot coordinated airports worldwide. At present, the rules for slot allocation mean that airlines must operate at least 80 per cent of their allocated slots under normal circumstances.
Failure to comply with this means the airline loses its right to the slot the next equivalent season. In exceptional circumstances, regulators can relax this requirement.
IATA said the COVID-19 crisis has had a severe impact on air traffic. Airlines are experiencing serious declines in demand.
Given these extraordinary circumstances as a result of the public health emergency, the collective view of the airline industry is that the application of 80 per cent rule during the upcoming season inappropriate.
Flexibility is needed for airlines to adjust their schedules according to extraordinary demand developments. Regulators have already been waiving the slot rules on a rolling basis during the COVID-19 crisis primarily for operations to China and Hong Kong.
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However, given the recent further outbreaks, this is no longer contained in the Asia markets. Without certainty that these waivers will continue for the summer season (or winter season in the southern hemisphere), airlines are unable to plan ahead sufficiently to ensure efficient rostering of crew or deployment of aircraft.
Suspending the requirement for the entire season (to October 2020) will mean that airlines can respond to market conditions with appropriate capacity levels, avoiding any need to run empty services in order to maintain slots.
Aircraft can be reallocated to other routes or parked, said IATA, while the crew can have certainty on their schedules.
"IATA research has shown that traffic has collapsed on key Asian routes and that this is rippling throughout the air transport network globally, even between countries without major outbreaks of COVID-19," said Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac.
"There are precedents for the previous suspension of the slot use rules and we believe the circumstances again call for a suspension to be granted. We are calling for regulators worldwide to help the industry plan for today's emergency, and the future recovery of the network, by suspending the slot use rules on a temporary basis," he said.
The world is facing a huge challenge to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while enabling the global economy to continue functioning.
"Airlines are on the front line of that challenge and it's essential that the regulatory community work with us to ensure airlines are able to operate in the most sustainable manner, both economically and environmentally, to alleviate the worst impacts of the crisis," said de Juniac.