IATA is calling on governments to temporarily suspend the 80/20 airport slot rule for airlines in response to the Middle East conflict.
At present, airlines are allocated ongoing slots at airports as long as they use them 80% of the time.
However, Nick Careen, IATA senior vice president operations, safety and security, argues that governments should implement the Justified Non-Use of Slots (JNUS) exemption given the current circumstances.
Under JNUS, the 80/20 slot utilisation calculation is frozen until the extraordinary situation normalises and airlines can reasonably be expected to operate their schedules.
“Over the last month, we have seen headlines about closed airspace, reduced operations at some airports, major re-routing to avoid conflict zones, and fuel shortages,” according to Careen.
EU airports face jet fuel shortage unless Strait of Hormuz reopens
“For many airlines, it has been impossible to operate their carefully planned schedules. At the time of writing, this has been going on for a month and a half. And that goes beyond the flexibility afforded by the normal 80/20 rule.
“And even if the war ends today — which we all hope for — remedies for airline schedules will not be immediate.
“Some airlines have made pre-emptive cancellations to give passengers time to plan around the disruptions.
“And restarting operations will take time for aircraft and crews to re-position, schedules to be rebuilt, and fuel supplies replenished, and networks need time to recover. Getting back to normal will take months, not days.”
IATA would like to see governments apply JNUS for a rolling six-week period until it is clear that normal operations are possible.
“This will give airlines something they urgently need right now: the certainty that their network — and all the years of investments to support it — is not in peril because of circumstances beyond their control,” says Careen.
In the past, there have been incidents of airlines operating empty flights just to ensure they hit the 80/20 calculation.
A4E calls for measures to help airlines manage Middle East impact
Careen points out that applying JNUS would also avoid unnecessary flying, saving scarce fuel and reducing disruption, keep airport capacity available, allowing airlines that can operate to step in, protect historic slot rights to avoid long‑term damage to airline networks and enable airlines to restore connectivity as fast as possible when the situation stabilises.
“We all hope that JNUS will not be needed for long,” said Careen. “Until the situation stabilises and airlines can return to normal flying, JNUS is a critical lifeline to protect the air connectivity that is important today, and that will be even more important as we rebuild from conflict.”
Associations have been increasingly concerned about the impact of the Middle East crisis on the aviation market in recent days.
Last week, industry association Airports Council International (ACI) Europe warned that if the passage through the Strait of Hormuz does not resume in “any significant and stable way within the next three weeks” a systemic jet fuel shortage will become a reality for the European Union (EU).
It called on the EU to implement a monitoring platform to help coordinate the response and map availability.
The organisation would also like to see imports from alternative locations and joint procurement across member states.
Meanwhile, airline group Airlines for Europe (A4E) has called on the EU to implement a series of temporary measures to help carriers manage the impact of the Middle East conflict.