Press Release: European Commission proposes to relax the application of the slot allocation rules because of the war in Iraq and the outbreak of SARS

The European Commission proposed on 25 April 2003 modifying EU rules on airport slot allocation by introducing a derogation from the normal slot usage requirements for the current summer 2003 scheduling season. This aims to enable air carriers to adjust capacity in view of falling demand caused by the war in Iraq and the recent outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Southeast Asia.