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Ghost flight (commercial aviation)

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In commercial aviation, ghost flight is a term used to describe a flight operated by an airline on a regularly scheduled route with an aircraft containing less than 10% of the airline's total capacity.[1] While it was considered to be initially a rare occurrence, ghost flights have become more frequent as of the early 2020s following the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] Critics say these flights are unnecessarily adding to the environmental crisis, by contributing to carbon emissions without a significant benefit.[3]

Since the beginning of 2019, over 5,000 aircraft have flown to and from United Kingdom airports with no passengers. In addition, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) confirmed that over 35,000 flights had less than 10% of passenger capacity.[4] The United Kingdom's biggest airport, Heathrow, accounted for 10,467 flights.[4]

As the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread worldwide in March 2020, flights got cancelled and delayed due to travel restrictions. During this time, airline travel was reduced by 45% in 2020.[5] Because of this, airlines had to increase the number of empty flights in order to maintain their airport slots during this time.[6]

Flight containing less than 10% of capacity during COVID-19 travel.

Airport slot rule

In order to maintain an effective airport and keep flights on time, airports have implemented slot rules to ensure flights are able to continue in a timely manner and limit scheduled air traffic.[7] These slot rules also help maximize competition and keep airfares low.[2] Airlines are required to utilize the slots for flights or trade them. If a slot goes unused, the airline must give back to slot so other airlines are able to use it.

Before the COVID restrictions, airlines were required to use their allotted spots at least 80% of the time.[8] During the pandemic, the European Commission temporarily suspended Europe's airport slot rule for a short period.[9] Due to travel restrictions, many flights were cancelled or had limited capacity, which made it difficult for airlines to fulfill all the requirements for possessing an airport slot. The suspension of the slot rule was reinstated in October 2021. After the slot rule was reinstated, the rule only required European airlines to use 75% of their flight slots for the winter season.[9] In the summer of 2023, they plan on getting back on track to pre-pandemic regulations and will be required to fill 80% of airport slots. However, in January 2022 the Lufthansa Group, Europe's second largest airline, estimated that it would need to operate 18,000 ghost flights this winter to be able to keep all their current runway slots.[10] Ghost flights are an example of wastage and unnecessary emissions that there is a need for a slot reform.[8]

As of July 2022, the European Commission adopted a proposal that would allow more flexibility of airline slots.[11] Airlines would be allowed to use expectations in situations such as natural disasters, epidemiological emergencies, or widespread political unrest resulting in disruptive effect on air travel. The proposal went into effect on October 30, 2022.[12]

Climate issues

Aviation is the world's fastest growing source of climate harming emissions.[13] Air travel causes more carbon emission in an hour than any other consumer activity. These emissions contribute to an estimated 2.4% of annual CO2 amount globally.[5] In addition to releasing up to 2.1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year.[14] Research has found that aviation also contributes 4% to human-induced global warming. At this rate, warming is to increase 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit (0.1 degrees Celsius) by the year 2050 as aviation continues to grow post pandemic.[5] Although the pandemic put a pause in the emissions, the CO2 emissions from past flights are still playing a role in global warming. The pandemic slowed the warming rates by about five years.[5] Of frequent flyers, there is an elite minority that is contributing to most of the aviation emissions.[15]

As of October 2021, the goal was to achieve net-zero emissions by the year 2050 within the aviation industry.[2] According to Greenpeace, ghost flights account for yearly emissions equivalent to more than 1.4 million cars.[10]

References

  1. ^ Bailey, Jack (2022-06-11). "What Exactly Is A Ghost Flight?". Simple Flying. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  2. ^ a b c @NatGeoUK (2022-04-18). "The scandal of 'ghost flights': are empty planes haunting our skies?". National Geographic. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  3. ^ "Revealed: 5,000 empty 'ghost flights' in UK since 2019, data shows". the Guardian. 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  4. ^ a b "Over 5000 empty 'ghost' flights have flown to and fro UK since 2019. All you need to know". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  5. ^ a b c d "How much does air travel warm the planet? New study gives a figure". Mongabay Environmental News. 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  6. ^ Bodell, Luke (2022-04-11). "UK CAA Reveals Almost 15,000 Ghost Flights Operated During The Pandemic". Simple Flying. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  7. ^ Federal Aviation Administration. "Slot Administration". United States Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2022-11-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ a b Thrower, Max (2022-02-22). "'Ghost Flights' and the Spectre of Climate Change". Aviation Environment Federation. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  9. ^ a b Pickett, Riley (2022-10-13). "European Union Agrees On 75/25 Slot Rule For The Upcoming Winter Season". Simple Flying. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  10. ^ a b "Pointless 'ghost flights' in EU cause climate damage equal to 1.4 million cars". Greenpeace European Unit. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  11. ^ "Press corner". European Commission - European Commission. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  12. ^ "Aviation: Commission welcomes political agreement on new EU slot relief rules". transport.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  13. ^ "Until airlines tackle the scourge of 'ghost flights', Britain will never reach net zero | John Vidal". the Guardian. 2022-02-22. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  14. ^ "Why Are Empty 'Ghost Flights' Flying Over Europe Amid a Climate Crisis?". Global Citizen. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  15. ^ "Elite minority of frequent flyers 'cause most of aviation's climate damage'". the Guardian. 2021-03-31. Retrieved 2022-10-28.


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