Why Europe’s sky is filling up with near-empty flights

Airlines say they need to fly near-empty planes to safeguard their landing and departure slots at big airports

Covid-19 Omicron variant puts many off flying as the aviation industry tries to recover from a pandemic slump

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Airlines say they are forced to fly near-empty planes to safeguard their network rights. File photo: Shutterstock

Published: 11:59am, 7 Jan 2022Updated: 12:02pm, 7 Jan 2022

Europe’s sky is filling up with near-empty polluting planes that serve little other purpose than safeguarding airlines’ valuable time slots at some of the world’s most important airports.

The highly contagious Omicron variant of Covid-19 has put many off flying, and because of it, getting people and goods from point A to point B has become an afterthought for thousands of flights.

It has created strange bedfellows, with environmentalists and major airlines united to cut down on empty or near-empty flights by pressuring the European Union – a pledged global leader in combating climate change – to tweak the rules on airport slots.

“The EU surely is in a climate emergency mode,” activist Greta Thunberg tweeted sarcastically this week, linking to a story about Brussels Airlines making unnecessary flights.

The company has said that if the EU doesn’t take action, it would have to fly some 3,000 journeys this winter primarily to safeguard its network rights.

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