Several countries are trying to keep empty planes on the ground
German Lufthansa expects to have to fly 18,000 partially or completely empty aircraft through the winter, the trade magazine wrote The engineer Friday. This is good for neither the climate nor the companies’ finances, and the issue is on the agenda of the European Commission.
Denmark and a number of others will try to find a solution, the Danish Ministry of Transport writes in an email to the news agency Ritzau.
80/20
The reason it is flown with empty planes is the so-called 80/20 rule. It stipulates that companies, if they wish to retain the right to use seats for take-off and landing, must use 80 percent of them over a period of five weeks. If not, the companies lose the right the following year.
This is again due to the fact that many airports have limited capacity. The rule is to avoid making claims in several places and you need. The rule was repealed by the European Commission in 2020 due to the corona pandemic, but plans were made to phase it in again.
Well, the airlines have to use half of the space to keep the right, and by the end of March, it has to be raised to 64 percent. Denmark and other countries have argued for a lower rate, and Danes will fight for this in the hearing in the commission, according to the Danish government.
SAS will have a 2020 scheme again
In SAS, the hope is to return to the scheme from 2020. The company has not had any flies in the air, but the company is a very strong distance from the rule, which can affect them in the long run, according to press manager Alexandra Lindgren.
– We and many other airlines have asked the EU and all national authorities in the respective countries to look at this here, because it will be a problem for all of us, she says.