The outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic caused a sharp decrease in the number of passengers, however, flights without passengers still had to go back and forth regularly.
According to Business Insider , the reality shows that airlines are wasting tons of fuel on empty “ghost” flights due to “reservation” rules at European airports.
According to this rule, flight service operators are forced to maintain active flight operations or they will lose their flight seats due to a long stopover.
British Airways had to cancel hundreds of flights because of the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic, and the aircraft parked in the yard caused great damage to the airline. (Image: Shutterstock).
The corona virus disease is spreading globally, causing the travel demand of passengers to plummet. Airlines are miserable and have to reduce ticket prices. According to EU aviation regulations, if airlines providing transcontinental services need to maintain 80% of their registered seats, they will lose these seats to other rival airlines.
This condition makes air service operators have to conduct empty flights in and out of European countries at huge costs, according to The Times of London.
On March 5, UK Transport Minister Grant Shapps had to send a letter to the flight coordination agency – Airport Coordinator Limited, requesting that the above regulation be stopped during the outbreak of the disease to prevent the spread of the virus. economic damage and undue environmental impact.
Minister Shapps is concerned that in order to meet the “80/20” rule (the rule that maintains 80% of registered flights), airlines will be forced to maintain flights back and forth with low loading rates, or even abandon them. blank to hold a place.
“This is unacceptable. It does not bring benefits to customers, who have real needs, while causing unnecessary consequences for the environment,” he said.
ACL has had to postpone the application of the 80/20 rule to airlines operating services to and from mainland China, including Hong Kong.
On March 5, British airline Flybe was forced to file for bankruptcy protection due to severe financial difficulties associated with the outbreak of the disease. The International Air Transport Association estimates the outbreak will cost air travel revenue of up to 3 billion globally.