Legal provisions of COM(2020)818 - Amendment of Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93 as regards temporary relief from the slot utilisation rules at Community airports due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Please note

This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.

dossier COM(2020)818 - Amendment of Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93 as regards temporary relief from the slot utilisation rules at Community ...
document COM(2020)818 EN
date February 16, 2021

Contents

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 95/93 is amended as follows:

(1)Article 2 is amended as follows:

(a)the following point is inserted:

‘(ba)during the period referred to in Article 10a(3) ‘new entrant’ shall mean:

(i)an air carrier requesting, as part of a series of slots, a slot at an airport on any day, where, if the carrier’s request were accepted, it would in total hold fewer than seven slots at that airport on that day; or

(ii)an air carrier requesting a series of slots for a non-stop scheduled passenger service between two Union airports, where at most two other air carriers operate the same non-stop scheduled service between those airports on that day, and where, if the air carrier’s request were accepted, the air carrier would nonetheless hold fewer than nine slots at that airport on that day for that non-stop service.

An air carrier which, together with its parent company, its own subsidiaries or the subsidiaries of its parent company, holds more than 10 % of the total slots allocated on the day in question at a particular airport, shall not be considered as a new entrant at that airport;’;

(b)the following point is added:

‘(n)‘COVID-19 coordination parameters’ shall mean revised coordination parameters resulting in a reduction of available airport capacity at a coordinated airport as a result of specific sanitary measures imposed by Member States in response to the COVID-19 crisis.’;

(2)in Article 7(1), the first subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘1.   Air carriers operating or intending to operate at a schedules facilitated or coordinated airport shall submit to the schedules facilitator or coordinator respectively all relevant information requested by them. All relevant information shall be provided in the format and within the time-limit specified by the schedules facilitator or coordinator. In particular, an air carrier shall inform the coordinator, at the time of the request for allocation, whether it would benefit from the status of new entrant, in accordance with Article 2(b) or (ba), in respect of requested slots.’;

(3)Article 8 is amended as follows:

(a)the introductory wording of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.   Without prejudice to Articles 7, 8a and 9, Article 10(1) and (2a) and Article 14, paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply when the following conditions are satisfied:’;

(b)the following paragraph is inserted:

‘2a.   During the period referred to in Article 10a(3), a series of slots which was returned to the slot pool in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article at the end of the scheduling period (the “reference scheduling period”) shall, upon request, be allocated for the next equivalent scheduling period to an air carrier which has operated at least five slots of the series in question following the application of Article 10a(7) during the reference scheduling period, provided that the series of slots has not already been allocated to the carrier originally holding that series for the next equivalent scheduling period in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article.

In the event that more than one applicant fulfils the requirements of the first subparagraph, priority shall be given to the air carrier that has operated the greater number of slots of that series.’;

(c)the following paragraph is inserted:

‘6a.   Within the period during which COVID-19 coordination parameters apply and in order to enable the proper application of such coordination parameters, the coordinator may amend the timing of requested or allocated slots falling within the period specified in Article 10a(3) or cancel them after having heard the air carrier concerned. In this context, the coordinator shall take into account additional rules and guidelines referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article, under the conditions set out therein.’;

(4)in Article 8a, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

‘3.
(a)Slots allocated to a new entrant as defined in Article 2(b) or (ba) may not be transferred as provided for in paragraph 1(b) of this Article for a period of two equivalent scheduling periods, except in the case of a legally authorised takeover of the activities of a bankrupt undertaking.
(b)Slots allocated to a new entrant as defined in Article 2(b)(ii) and (iii) or in Article 2(ba)(ii) may not be transferred to another route as provided for in paragraph 1(a) of this Article for a period of two equivalent scheduling periods unless the new entrant would have been treated with the same priority on the new route as on the initial route.
(c)Slots allocated to a new entrant as defined in Article 2(b) or (ba) may not be exchanged as provided for in paragraph 1(c) of this Article for a period of two equivalent scheduling periods, except in order to improve the slot timings for these services in relation to the timings initially requested.’;

(5)Article 10 is amended as follows:

(a)the following paragraph is inserted:

‘2a.   Notwithstanding paragraph 2, a series of slots allocated for the scheduling period from 28 March 2021 until 30 October 2021 shall entitle the air carrier to the same series of slots for the scheduling period from 27 March 2022 until 29 October 2022 if the air carrier has made the complete series of slots available to the coordinator for reallocation before 28 February 2021. This paragraph shall only apply to series of slots which had been allocated to the same carrier for the scheduling period from 29 March 2020 until 24 October 2020. The number of slots in respect of which the air carrier in question may benefit under this paragraph shall be limited to a number equivalent to 50 % of the slots which were allocated to the same carrier for the scheduling period from 29 March 2020 until 24 October 2020 except for an air carrier allocated fewer than 29 slots per week on average during the previous equivalent scheduling period at the airport in question.’;

(b)paragraph 4 is amended as follows:

(i)the following point is added:

‘(e)during the period referred to in Article 10a(3), the introduction by public authorities of measures intended to address the spread of COVID-19 at one end of a route for which the slots in question were used or planned to be used, on condition that the measures had not been published at the time the series of slots had been allocated, that those measures significantly impact the viability or possibility of travel or the demand on the routes concerned and that they lead to any of the following:

(i)a partial or total closure of the border or airspace, or a partial or total closure or reduction of capacity of the airport, during a substantial part of the relevant scheduling period,

(ii)a severe impediment to passengers’ ability to travel with any carrier on that direct route during a substantial part of the relevant scheduling period including,

—travel restrictions based on nationality or place of residence, prohibition of all except essential travel, or bans on flights from or to certain countries or geographical areas,

—restrictions of movement or quarantine or isolation measures within the country or region where the airport of destination is located (including intermediate points),

—restrictions on the availability of services essential to support directly the operation of an air service,

(iii)restrictions on airline crew movements significantly hampering the operation of air services from or to the airports served, including sudden bans on entry or the stranding of crew in unexpected locations due to quarantine measures.’;

(ii)the following subparagraphs are added:

‘Point (e) shall apply within the period during which the measures referred to in that point apply and, within the limits referred to in the third, fourth and fifth subparagraphs, for an additional period of up to six weeks. However, where the measures referred to in point (e) cease to apply less than six weeks before the end of a scheduling period, point (e) shall apply to the remainder of the six week period only where the slots in the subsequent scheduling period are used for the same route.

Point (e) shall only apply to slots used for routes for which they were already used by the air carrier prior to the publication of the measures referred to in that point.

Point (e) shall cease to apply where the air carrier uses the slots in question to change to a route not affected by the measures of the public authorities.

Air carriers may justify the non-utilisation of a slot in accordance with point (e) for a maximum of two consecutive scheduling periods.’;

(c)the second subparagraph of paragraph 6 is replaced by the following:

‘Among requests from new entrants, preference shall be given to air carriers qualifying for new entrant status under Article 2(b)(i) and (ii), Article 2(b)(i) and (iii) or Article 2(ba)(i) and (ii).’;

(6)Article 10a is replaced by the following:

‘Article 10a

Allocation of slots in response to the COVID-19 crisis

1. For the purposes of Articles 8(2) and 10(2), coordinators shall consider slots allocated for the period from 1 March 2020 until 27 March 2021 as having been operated by the air carrier to which they were initially allocated.

2. For the purposes of Articles 8(2) and 10(2), coordinators shall consider slots allocated for the period from 23 January 2020 until 29 February 2020 as having been operated by the air carrier to which they were initially allocated, as regards air services between airports in the Union and airports either in the People’s Republic of China or in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

3. In respect of slots which have not been made available to the coordinator for reallocation in accordance with Article 10(2a), during the period from 28 March 2021 until 30 October 2021 and for the purposes of Articles 8(2) and 10(2), if an air carrier demonstrates to the satisfaction of the coordinator that the series of slots in question has been operated, as cleared by the coordinator, by that air carrier for at least 50 % of the time during the scheduling period for which it has been allocated, the air carrier shall be entitled to the same series of slots for the next equivalent scheduling period.

In respect of the period referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph, the percentage values referred to in Article 10(4) and in point (a) of Article 14(6) shall be 50 %.

4. In respect of slots with a date from 9 April 2020 until 27 March 2021, paragraph 1 shall only apply where the air carrier returned the relevant unused slots to the coordinator for reallocation to other air carriers.

5. Where the Commission finds, on the basis of data published by Eurocontrol, which is the network manager for the air traffic network functions of the single European sky, that the reduction in the level of air traffic as compared to the level in the corresponding period in 2019 is persisting and, on the basis of Eurocontrol traffic forecasts, is likely to persist, and also finds, on the basis of the best available scientific data, that this situation is the result of the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 12a to amend the period specified in paragraph 3 of this Article accordingly.

The Commission is empowered to adopt, where strictly necessary in order to address the evolving impact of the COVID-19 crisis on air traffic levels, delegated acts in accordance with Article 12a to amend the percentage values referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article within a range between 30 % and 70 %. For this purpose, the Commission shall take into account changes that have occurred since 20 February 2021, on the basis of the following elements:

(a)data published by Eurocontrol on traffic levels and traffic forecasts;

(b)the evolution of air traffic trends during the scheduling periods, taking into account the evolution observed since the start of the COVID-19 crisis; and

(c)indicators relating to demand for passenger and cargo air transport, including trends regarding fleet size, fleet utilisation, and load factors.

Delegated acts pursuant to this paragraph shall be adopted no later than 31 December for the following summer scheduling period and no later than 31 July for the following winter scheduling period.

6. Where, in the case of a prolonged impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the air transport sector in the Union, imperative grounds of urgency so require, the procedure provided for in Article 12b shall apply to delegated acts adopted pursuant to this Article.

7. During the period referred to in paragraph 3, air carriers shall make available to the coordinator for reallocation to other air carriers any slot they do not intend to use, no less than three weeks before the date of operation.’;

(7)in Article 12a, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.   The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 10a shall be conferred on the Commission until 21 February 2022.’;

(8)Article 14 is amended as follows:

(a)Paragraph 5 is replaced by the following:

‘5.   Member States shall establish and apply effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties or equivalent measures to air carriers who repeatedly and intentionally fail to comply with this Regulation.’;

(b)in paragraph 6, the following point is added:

‘(c)During the period referred to Article 10a(3), when a coordinator determines, on the basis of information at its disposal, that an air carrier has ceased its operations at an airport and is no longer able to operate the slots which it has been allocated, the coordinator shall withdraw from that air carrier the series of slots in question for the remainder of the scheduling period and place them in the pool, after having heard the air carrier concerned.’.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.