In light of the emergency caused by the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has asked regulators in the sector around the world to eliminate restrictions on flights to and from the airport. Rules for the use of slots (landing and takeoff times), as is the case with that 80/20 punctuality call.
This rule states that airlines must operate 80 percent of their flights within a 20-minute itinerary., so that they can continue to operate the routes in the following seasons or else they will be removed. Suspending the requirement for the entire season (until October 2020) will mean that companies in the sector can respond to market conditions with adequate capacity levels, avoiding any need to run empty services to maintain slots, IATA explained in a statement.
The international body indicated that aircraft can be reassigned to other routes or parked and crew can be certain of their schedules. It said that the coronavirus crisis has had a serious impact on air traffic, as is the case of one airline, whose name was omitted, which has registered a 26 percent reduction in its entire operation.
A central operator also reported that its bookings to Italy were down 108 percent and refunds from users were increasing.
IATA had reported that due to the coronavirus crisis, companies in the industry would register losses of 29 billion dollars.
# COVID19: We call on the governments to suspend the rules governing airport use of slots.
More info: https://t.co/K4lxVQCZha #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/tZgS8Afomp
- IATA (@IATA) March 2, 2020
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