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“NO” for the 50% limit of seats on the aircraft and an appeal for a well-thought policy of the state for all the air industry and for safe solutions within mobility instead of bans. This is what the presidents of airline business companies demand from the Polish Prime Minister.
The heads of 7 Polish regional airports, airways, travel agencies and Polish Chamber of Tourism have written an open letter to the Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki regarding launching international connections and withdrawing the 50% limit of seats available on the aircraft.
The Prime Minister has announced that commencing from 16th June international flights will be possible, however, he did not give any details. The air industry fears that the ban on the sale of tickets for more than the half of seats available on the aircraft will still be in force. Such ban has been introduced for domestic flights operated since 1st June by Polish Airlines LOT.
“Airports will have no opportunity to contribute to the revival of Polish economy if national regulations restrict the business possibilities to air carriers and become a direct basis for air lines to retreat from the Polish market. The provision regarding the limitation of the number of seats on an aircraft established by the Council of Ministers on 29th May 2020 is an example of such limiting regulations. The restrictions on the number of passengers on aircrafts are not an optimal solution and may fatally contribute to a disaster of Polish air industry – wrote the authors of the letter to the Prime Minister.
In the letter signatories’ opinion it has not been proven until now that any case of coronavirus infection has been caused by the filtered and exchanged air in the aircraft. Furthermore, since the outbreak of the pandemic in China, over 3 million passengers have arrived to Poland for the first three months of this year and this has not caused any occurrence of any epidemic outbreaks.
With regard to the passengers’ wellbeing and also considering the need to launch airline connections as soon as possible, airlines have implemented a number of additional procedures in order to maintain physical distance during boarding and cleanliness on the aircraft. Polish airports are prepared for the new situation by undertaking a number of precautions. “The rules and requirements applied in Polish airports are definitely much more restrictive than within any other closed public space” – believe the representatives of the air industry.
They have appealed to the Prime Minister for a thoroughly thought and well planned government policy for the air industry and for not applying any rules which may cause restrictions preventing air industry from operation. “Polish regional airports are significant catalyzers of development of the whole Polish economy. They employ in average ca. 30 thousand people directly and 80 thousand indirectly. Their effect on economy is estimated for ca. 4% GNP (gross national product), which you and the Ministers of you cabinet frequently and properly mention in your public speeches” – wrote the authors of the letter.
The open letter has been signed by:
• Jozsef Varadi, President of the Board, WIZZ AIR Hungary
• Michał Kaczmarzyk, President of BUZZ (d. Ryanair Sun)
• Ton Jochems, Senior Manager, Groundservices Outstations KLM Cityhopper
• Paweł Niewiadomski, President of Polish Chamber of Tourism, a member of the European Travel Agents' and Tour Operators' Associations (ECTAA)
• Andrzej Kobielski, President of the Board of Airline Representatives in Poland (BARIP)
• Grzegorz Polaniecki, President of the Board, EnterAir
• Grzegorz Baszczyński, President of the Board, RAINBOW TOURS
• Piotr Henicz, Vice-President of the Board, Nowa Itaka
• Wojciech Skoczyński, President of the Board, GRECOS HOLIDAY
• Maciej Nykiel, President of the Board, NEKERA
• Jakub Szynklewski, Board Member, Bartolini Air
• Tomasz Kloskowski, President of the Board, Gdańsk Airport
• Leszek Chorzewski, President of the Board, by Proxy, Mazowiecki Warsaw–Modlin Airport
• Dariusz Kuś, President of the Board, Wrocław Airport
• Krzysztof Wójtowicz, President of the Board, Lublin Airport
• Tomasz Moraczewski, President of the Board, Bydgoszcz Airport
• Anna Midera, President of the Board, Łódź Airport
• Tomasz Kądziołka, President of the Board, Olsztyn-Mazury Airport