EU airport slot usage rules could lead to 100,000 ghost flights this winter, according to an analysis by Greenpeace.
Up to 2.1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions could be generated by the deserted, unnecessary or unprofitable flights that are intended to allow airlines to keep their takeoff and landing runway rights in major airports.
The EU Commission requiring airlines to fly empty planes is hypocritical given their climate rhetoric, said Herwig Schuster, a spokeswoman for the European Mobility for All campaign.
He said it would be irresponsible of the EU to not take the low-hanging fruit of ending ghost flights and banning short-haul flights.
The European Commission cut the benchmark for flight operations that airlines must meet to keep their slots open from 80% to 25% during the Covid epidemic.
In December, the benchmark was raised to 50% and again to 64% in March.
The CEO of Lufthansa said that his airline may have to fly 18,000 extra flights to fulfill the adjusted rules.
Between January and March, just 45% of the flights were full.
The other 5%, or 18,000 flights, are considered unnecessary.
A conservative estimate of 20 tons of greenhouse gas emissions a flight was used to calculate the proportion of ghost flights to other European airlines.
The research assumed an average flight time of 90 minutes by a 200 seat plane.
Tim Johnson, director of the Aviation Environment Federation, said that the assumptions were spot on.
It looks like an example of wasted money in the industry and I think people will be surprised by it.
The EU surely is in a climate emergency mode according to the leader of the climate strike.
The European Commission does not believe that air carriers are operating ghost flights or that slot rules have created problems.
A commission spokesman said that empty flights are bad for the economy and the environment, which is why they took several measures to not have such flights. If airline companies decide to keep empty flights, this is a company decision, which is not the result of EU rules.
If flights are disrupted by new government travel restrictions or severe sanitary measures, airlines can request that slot requirements be cut, argues the city.
The CEO of Ryanair complained earlier this month that big airlines were benefiting from generous EU breaks. They don't want to operate ghost flights because of the environment.
The Irish airline wants the commission to force it to release unused slots and for it to sell unsold tickets at cheap prices.
Air France does not give data on how many under-capacity and unnecessary flights it is currently flying, but it says it wants greater slot rule flexibility.
It was right to focus on climate impacts when huge amounts of CO 2 were being emitted unnecessarily, but there was a bigger industry battle which pointed to the need for slot reform.
He said that they need something that rewards efficiency, which would allow an operator with a modern full plane to be preferred over rivals.
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