THE LEGAL IMPACTS IN THE USE OF AIRPORT SLOTS 123 The European Commission has already announced it will release legislation to temporarily alleviate airlines from their airport slot usage obligations under EU law. In the words of the Commissioner for Transport Adina Vălean: “The temporary measure will allow airlines to adjust their capacity in view of the falling demand caused by the outbreak. Without such a measure, airlines would have to continue to operate flights, even if largely empty, to guarantee their current slots at EU airports, with a negative impact – both economic and environmental. Given the urgency, the Commission will in due course present a legislative proposal and calls on the European Parliament and the Council to swiftly adopt this measure in co-decision procedure”. A side effect of this measure is that will also help the environment decreasing emissions by avoiding the so-called “ghost flights”. However, and at the time these lines are being written, it is a fact that planes are grounded, and no one is operating ghost flights. 3.2. The contractual approach Even without a legal intervention, we do think airline carriers can react to lose their slot rights, due to the contractual nature of airport slots usage. We are talking of the rebus sic standibus clause (things thus standing), which makes part of the general principles of contractual law. In fact, multiple countries have rules that allows one grantor in a contract to unilaterally cancel or alter the contract based on a fact or a set of facts that changes the circumstances in which the contract has been completed. And in countries that have not the rule, like Spain, the application of the rebus sic stantibus clause is built on case law. Either in one situation or the other, this principle allows, in cases of supervening impossibility of performance of the contract due to the unpredictability of the change of circumstances, the modification of the terms of the contract. he application of rebus sic stantibus always implies a modification of the obligations initially assumed by the parties and requires an accurate evaluation of the real impact of the changing circumstances, in this case the COVID-19 pandemic, on the contractual relationship under analysis. For this clause to be applied the situation must have the following essential characteristics: i) To be bilateral, reciprocal and commutative (it should be applied when, during the course of the contractual period, circumstances have arisen that
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