European slot restrictions could impede 2021 airfreight recovery

Airlines are being encouraged to hand in unused slots for the upcoming summer 2021 season, according to Ferry van der Ent, director of business development at Schiphol Cargo, leaving plenty of slots open for freighter operators. [caption id="attachment_79696" align="alignright" width="450"] A KLM 777-300 arrives at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Photo courtesy of KLM.[/caption] At the same time, European airports and carriers have begun to show concern regarding new slot legislation involving rolling hand-ins that would make it all but impossible for carriers to plan for the entire season. Full-freighter growth was a bright spot amid the darkness of the COVID-19 pandemic for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) thanks to a decline in passenger flights operating at the airport. According to van der Ent, AMS saw 24,000 full-freight flights in 2020, a 68% year-over-year increase. Nearly all of the new flights were a result of reduced passenger traffic due to the pandemic, which has freed up slots for freighters. But the growth might not last, as much of it has been a direct result of non-historic slot usage, according to van der Ent. “So that doesn't mean that in 2022 there will be 24,000 slots available for freighters. It might be the case that those will be returned to existing passenger airlines.” In fact, growth and recovery in European aviation generally could be hindered by an amended slot-assignment plan for the summer 2021 season issued by the European Council (EC) last month. The amended plan, which was opposed in a release issued jointly by IATA, the Airports Council International, and Airports 4 Europe, involved airport slots being handed back to airlines three weeks prior to the start of operation on a rolling basis. This is a stark departure from the usual method of assigning slots for an entire season or series. “Existing airlines are being encouraged to hand in or to return the unused slots to the slot coordinator because there is no penalty of losing any historic rights,” said van der Ent. “So they are returning those slots. Luckily … there are many other airlines, especially full freighters, who are ready to take up those slots.” An additional stipulation of the EC’s plan would require carriers to operate slots at least 40% of the time or face losing them. IATA data predicts Europe will have the slowest recovery of the major regions, and forcing carriers to operate every slot so frequently would cost too much, slowing recovery further. The new plan would also not permit airlines to return slots in bulk without losing all access to certain airports, according to the release. It would greatly hinder carriers’ abilities to plan ahead, since slots would be continuously updated just a few weeks before they went into effect. The Worldwide Airport Slot Board (WASB) had previously advised the EC to institute a different plan that would have allowed carriers to return a full series of slots in February 2021, well ahead of the summer 2021 season. It would have also alleviated slot usage requirements entirely, saving carriers the “ghost flights” they will likely have to operate if the EC’s current plan goes forward, the report said. WASB sees flexibility as the major advantage to its plan. It would allow carriers to plan the entire summer season, while the alleviated slot-usage requirements would permit flexibility, allowing carriers to more easily cancel older slots and pick up new ones should the pandemic create further dramatic swings in demand on various routes. Despite these complications, van der Ent remained optimistic about the state of slots at AMS. “[In 2019], we had 497,000 slots being used out of the 500,000 declared capacity. The airport in normal circumstances is completely occupied. So no slots are available, not in normal circumstances. I think it will remain that way,” he said.

European slot restrictions could impede 2021 airfreight recovery

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