Airlines Are Destroying Our Planet By Flying Empty With No People, Thanks To Coronavirus
Flight operators across the European Union are actually flying empty aircraft from one place to another -- aircraft with absolutely no passengers -- while wasting thousands of gallons of fuel and emitting massive amounts of CO2 in the skies all for what? To not lose access to busiest EU airports.
The coronavirus outbreak has surely impacted the vacation plans of many, adversely affecting the travel industry, including aviation. And while we might be wondering with empty aircraft there¡¯ll be less planes in the skies and fewer planes equal less pollution, but that isn¡¯t quite the case.
afp
Flight operators across the European Union are actually flying empty aircraft from one place to another -- aircraft with absolutely no passengers -- while wasting thousands of gallons of fuel and emitting massive amounts of CO2 in the skies all for what? To not lose access to busiest EU airports.
According to a decades-old regulation, if airlines fail to use 80 percent of their allocated flight slots at a particular airport, they could lose these slots to competitors during their yearly assessments by government officials. Basically, they need to prove to the authorities that they have a plethora of passengers coming in that deems them worthy of that prime spot on the airport.
It¡¯s just crazy when you think about it though -- especially the amounts of fuel wastage and pollution that this stupid rule/ regulation is causing. Moreover, as per the International Air Transport Association, it is costing the aviation industry a whopping $113, billion, flying empty planes with no passengers paying for it.
reuters
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has written to regulators asking them to grant a temporary prohibition on these rules to reduce the loss to the environment as well as the company due to these practices, as the coronavirus spreads at an unprecedented rate, across 80 countries, infecting over 100,000 people and claiming lives of over 3,400.
He said, "I am particularly concerned that, in order to satisfy the 80/20 rule, airlines may be forced to fly aircraft at very low load factors, or even empty, in order to retain their slots. Such a scenario is not acceptable. It is not in the industry's, the passengers' or the environment's interest and must be avoided."
