EU Council adopts COVID-19 relief measures on air carrier licencing and ground handling

EU Council adopted (25-May-2020) a temporary amendment to the rules on air services to support airlines and airports in the face of decreases in air traffic due to the coronavirus pandemic. The regulation on aviation amends the air carrier licencing rules in the event of financial problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in order to avoid unnecessary administrative burdens. It also introduces a derogation to the procedures used by member states to impose traffic rights restrictions to deal with emergencies resulting from unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances. The derogation will clarify that a member state may temporarily keep a justified and proportionate emergency measure in place for a period longer than 14 days, but the measure may only remain in force for as long as there are public health risks clearly linked to the coronavirus pandemic. The European Commission may suspend this action at the request of any member state involved or on its own initiative. In addition, new temporary rules on ground handling services will help airports to continue operating in the event of a ground handling company going bankrupt by introducing a direct procedure for the selection of service providers. They will also help airports avoid complex tenders by allowing for the extension of contracts up to 2022. [more - original PR]