Slot Airport
The Worldwide Airport Slot Board (WASB), comprising Airports Council International (ACI World), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and the Worldwide Airport Coordinators Group (WWACG) released a joint recommendation for airport slot use relief for the northern summer 2021 season (pdf). Airport slots are a solution to a lack of airport capacity. Pre-assigned take-off and landing slots are required to avoid chaos at airports where the infrastructure cannot match demand; allocating that capacity to airlines in a fair, neutral and transparent manner should be the role of an independent slot coordinator.
Worldwide Airport Slots
Demand for air travel is growing around the world. Many airports are already congested, with demand far exceeding the available capacity. With global traffic growth expected to double by 2034, the number of airports with slot constraints is expected to continue to increase.
Managing airport capacity is essential to ensure efficient access to airport infrastructure and resources. When the demand for slots exceeds availability, a slot coordination process is implemented.
Airports, as providers of the infrastructure, are in a unique position to promote efficiency in the use of their capacity and influence the process for the benefit of the travelling public.
As regards the upcoming Summer 2021 season and the progressive recovery of air traffic, there needs to be a reasonable balance between protecting the reinstatement of pre-COVID-19 networks and enabling the post-COVID-19 “new normal” so that services that responding to new patterns of demands can be established. ACI World, along with IATA and slot coordinators, supports the Worldwide Airport Slot Board (WASB) recommendation, as follows:
- Airlines that return a full series of slots by early February 2021 to be permitted to retain the right to operate them next summer.
- A lower operating threshold for retaining slots the following season. In normal industry conditions this is set at 80-20. The WASB recommends this be amended to 50-50 for Summer 2021, recognizing that regulators may adapt it to reflect the needs of their local market.
- A clear definition for acceptable non-use of a slot. For example, force majeure as a result of short-term border closures or quarantine measures imposed by governments.
ACI World, along with IATA and slot coordinators, further calls on regulators to act swiftly and adopt airport these slot relief measures.
Expert Group on Slots (EGS)
The Expert Group on Slots provides strategic and technical guidance to ACI World on the development of policy on airport slot allocation. This group identifies key issues and supports the development of ACI World policies and positions of slots as well as of the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG). The EGS membership reflects the global nature of slot allocation, with representatives from all ACI regions.
Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG)
The Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) is published by Airports Council International (ACI), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the Worldwide Airport Coordinators Group (WWACG) to provide the global air transport community with a common set of standards for the management of airport slots at coordinated airports and of planned operations at facilitated airports.
The WASG is the result of airport operators, airlines and slot coordinators working together in the Worldwide Airport Slot Board to modernize and improve the slot guidelines, whilst recognizing national or regional legislations. Comprised of an equal number of airports, airlines and coordinators, the mandate of the WASB is to propose areas of policy development, consider ways of improving the procedures, and analyze the impact new technologies to improve slot allocation and consumer outcomes.
Iata Winter Season 2020
ACI Global Training on Airport Slot Allocation
The ACI Global Training course on airport slot allocation sets out how slots are allocated, which guidelines and regulations frame slot allocation processes at global and local levels, and what is the role that airport operators can play to promote the greatest possible efficiency in the use of their infrastructure.
Contact
Airport Slot Management
For more information, please contact: slots@aci.aero