British airways Virgin Atlantic has confirmed it has been flying some near-empty flights after bookings took a hit due to the coronavirus outbreak. The airlines is operating the flights to try and retake take-off and landing slots at major airports such as Heathrow. European law dictates if flights are not operated, slots have to be forfeited. British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps wrote to the European Commission, asking for rules on slot allocation to be relaxed during the outbreak.
Number of air travellers have taken a dramatic hit in recent weeks, due to the coronavirus outbreak. As airlines continue to battle it out for slots, there are certain details one needs to know. They are granted according to historical rights at certain airports, including Heathrow. However, under the 'use it or lose it' rule, these slots have to be used at least 80 per cent of the time. If an airline fails to reach the mark, the slots are allocated to other carriers.
Chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, Shai Weiss said, “Passenger demand for air travel has dramatically fallen due to COVID-19 and in some instances we are being forced to fly almost empty planes or lose our valuable slots.”
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of the industry body Airlines UK, said, “It makes no sense whatsoever under these unique and challenging circumstances to force airlines to fly empty aircraft, wasting money and fuel and creating carbon emissions. We urgently need a temporary suspension of the rule - as happened during the financial crisis - to allow airlines to respond to demand and use their aircraft efficiently."
