European air carriers are demanding from the EU to revise the rules for flying in Europe. Airlines want to be able to wait until the cabin is full and avoid empty flights, Euronews reports.

Now, in accordance with European standards, airlines must use their "slots" at airports at least 50% of the time, otherwise they will lose the right to operate these flights. Because of this, carriers are often forced to send empty or half-empty planes, which have already been called "ghost flights". For example, Lufthansa expects that it and its subsidiaries will have to fly 18,000 "senseless flights" this winter, just to save the "slots."

At the same time, airlines focus not only on their own lost from half-empty planes, but also on environmental issues. According to them, "the Brussels rules are harmful to the climate and are the exact opposite of what the EU wants to achieve with the help of the environmental program."

The airlines consider it a fair solution to the issue to reduce the level of slot use from 50 to 30 percent. However, the EU leadership does not agree with this opinion. "The decline in consumer demand for air travel is already reflected in a significantly reduced level, which was 80 percent in the pre-pandemic period," said European Commission spokesman Daniel Ferry. At the same time, Brussels emphasizes that about 77 percent of flights from the pre-pandemic level were completed this winter, and the impact of the spread of coronavirus on air travel "is no longer as negative as before."

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