- Ref. Ares(2020)5100663 - 29/09/2020
Ref. Ares(2022)4274243 - 09/06/2022
European
Commission
Rue de la Loi, 200
MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
B-1049 Brussels
Brussels, 29.09.2020
GM/ Ares(2020)5243160
IATA
E-mail:
Dear
,
I thank you for your letter of 18 August 2020 regarding the extension of the slot waiver to the
winter 2020/2021 scheduling season.
I am aware that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a detrimental impact on the level
of air traffic and that under these circumstances, airlines and airports have considerable
difficulties in planning their schedules.
As you know, the amendment to the Slot Regulation adopted in March 2020 allows the
Commission to extend the waiver by delegated act if this is supported by data on decreasing
air traffic levels linked with the COVID-19 pandemic. The data that has been collected so far
on the issue has been presented in a report to the European Parliament and the Council
(COM(2020)558) 1 . The available data suggests that an extension of the slot waiver by
delegated act is necessary. Current trends suggest that air traffic will not have fully recovered
to pre-crisis levels by the end of the winter 2020/2021 season. As a result, experts from
Member States will be consulted on a waiver extension for the full winter 2020/2021 season
under a delegated act, which will be left for the College to decide.
It is important that, while airlines receive the necessary relief under the circumstances, the
approach taken is balanced and takes into account the needs of all stakeholders involved. In
this context, we became aware of certain issues with the implementation of the current waiver,
namely the late handing back of unused slots to the pool by some airlines and certain airlines
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/air/news/2020-09-14-common-rules-allocation-slots-community-
airports en