欧洲的天空满是几乎空载，还会造成污染的飞机。这些飞机除了保住航空公司在全球一些最重要的机场宝贵的航班班次之外，几乎一无是处。
The slots to fly into and leave from an airport for well-traveled routes are extremely important in the industry. To keep them, airlines must have a high percentage of flights. It is why flights are flown at a loss - so companies can keep their slots.
热门航线的机场起降班次在行业内非常重要。为了保住班次，航空公司必须拥有高比例的航班。这就是为什么航班会亏本飞行的原因，这样航空公司可以保住他们航班的班次。
It was an accepted system even with the pollution, but the pandemic decrease in flying has put that in question. Normally, airlines had to use 80 percent of their given slots to keep their rights. The European Union has cut that to 50 percent to make sure as few empty or near-empty planes are in the sky.
这是一种即使会有污染也可以接受的体系，但是大流行导致航班减少，让这一点遭到了质疑。通常情况下，航空公司必须使用80%的给定班次以保住自己的权利。欧盟已经将这一比例削减至50%，以确保尽可能少的空载或接近空载的飞机在天空中飞行。
The omicron variant of COVID-19 has reduced the number of people flying. An unlikely group has appeared: environmentalists and major airlines are working together. They want to cut down on empty or near empty flights by pressuring the European Union, a worldwide leader in fighting climate change, to change the rules on airport slots.
新冠肺炎奥密克戎变种减少了乘机出行人数。不太可能的一个组合出现了：环保主义者和大型航空公司开始合作。欧盟是应对气候变化的全球领导者，他们希望施压欧盟改变对机场班次的规定，从而减少空载或接近空载的航班数量。
One airline, the large German company Lufthansa, said it would have to fly an additional 18,000 "unnecessary" flights through the winter to hold on to landing slots. The holidays brought a big increase in people flying, but it also brought thousands of flight cancelations. The rest of winter, however, could be slow as omicron cases increase.
德国汉莎航空公司表示，它们必须在整个冬季额外飞行1.8万个不必要的航班以保住班次。节假日让乘机人数大幅增加，但是也导致成千上万的航班取消。然而，随着奥密克戎病例的增加，这个冬季剩下的时间可能会很冷清。
The Federal Aviation Administration in the United States has let go of similar slot-use rules through March 26 because of the pandemic. Slots are limited only at a few airports. They include two airports near New York City, Kennedy and LaGuardia, and Reagan Washington National outside of Washington, D.C.
由于大流行，美国联邦航空管理局在3月26日前放弃了类似的班次利用规则。只有少数机场的航班班次受到限制。其中包括纽约附近的两个机场，肯尼迪机场和拉瓜迪亚机场，以及华盛顿特区郊外的里根华盛顿国家机场。
Last month, when there was still hope the pandemic might finally get better, the European Commission confirmed the 50 percent rule. It said, however, that it would increase it to 64 percent at the end of March.
上个月，当大流行仍有最终好转的希望时，欧盟委员会确定了50%的规定。然而它表示将在3月底将这一比例提高到64%。
Major airlines like Lufthansa, Air France, and KLM said they are counting on additional flexibility. This would include decreasing the number of flights for time slots.
汉莎航空、法国航空和荷兰皇家航空等大型航空公司表示，他们希望获得更大灵活性。这包括减少保住班次所需的航班数。
This puts the E.U. in a difficult situation. On one hand, it needs to make sure airport slots are open to fair competition. The competition permits new airlines to compete for the slots if they are not being used. On the other hand, it wants to prevent polluting planes from flying.
这让欧盟陷入了困境。一方面，它需要确保机场班次的公平竞争。这种竞争让新的航空公司能够竞争空闲的班次。另一方面，它希望避免造成污染的飞机飞行。
E.U. Transport Commissioner Adina Valean last month recognized the threat of omicron to the travel industry. She has not announced any new regulations.
欧盟运输专员阿迪娜·瓦莱恩上个月认识到奥密克戎对旅游业的威胁。她尚未宣布任何新的规定。
Belgian Transport Minister Georges Gilkinet wrote Valean a critical letter and was pushing other E.U. politicians to join the movement and increase pressure.
比利时交通部长乔治·吉尔金内给瓦莱恩写了一封批评信，并正在推动其他欧盟政治家加入该运动并加大压力。
The letter, which The Associated Press received, said "The high-level pollution created by these flights runs totally counter to the E.U.'s climate objectives."
美联社收到的这封信写道：“这些航班造成的高污染完全违背了欧盟的气候目标。”
I'm Gregory Stachel.
我是格雷戈里·斯塔切尔。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)