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The Worldwide Airport Slot Board (WASB) called on regulators to temporarily adopt more flexible slot rules as quickly as possible to preserve essential air transport connectivity
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Slot-regulated airports serve almost half of all passengers and are the backbone of the global scheduled airline network
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International air traffic is only expected to return to about 25% of 2019 levels by summer 2021, and to preserve connectivity while air traffic recovers, a more flexible system of slot regulation is deemed essential
The aviation sector is calling on regulators worldwide to adopt airport slot use relief measures immediately to preserve essential air transport connectivity and provide the necessary flexibility to aid the industry’s recovery.
The Worldwide Airport Slot Board (WASB) made the appeal in a recent joint release recommending airport slot use relief for the northern summer 2021 season, which begins in April.
WASB is comprised of Airports Council International (ACI World), International Air Transport Association (IATA), and Worldwide Airport Coordinators Group (WWACG).
The three organizations called on regulators worldwide to temporarily adopt more flexible slot rules as quickly as possible to preserve essential air transport connectivity.
With the collapse in demand from the COVID-19 crisis, some 65% of direct city pair connections vanished in the first quarter of 2020. Slot-regulated airports serve almost half of all passengers and are the backbone of the global scheduled airline network.
“But recovery is impossible while there is no certainty on the rules governing the use and retention of airport slots,” WASB said.
It added that existing slot rules were never designed to cope with a prolonged industry collapse. Regulators temporarily suspended the rules for summer and winter 2020 to give the industry vital breathing space.
“International air traffic, though, is only expected to return to about 25% of 2019 levels by summer 2021. In order to preserve connectivity while air traffic recovers, a more flexible system of slot regulation is essential,” it added.
The WASB, which brings together representatives from the airport, airline and slot coordinator community to agree on positions on slot rules, recommends that the following be adopted before the end of 2020:
- Airlines that return a full series of slots by early February should be permitted to retain the right to operate them in summer 2022.
- 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
- 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.
“It is vital that regulators quickly adopt the WASB proposals on a globally harmonized basis. Airlines and airports need certainty as they are already planning the 2021 Summer season (which begins in April) and have to agree schedules,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO.
“Delays in adopting new rules will further damage the industry at a time when industry finances, and 4.8 million jobs in air transport, hang by a thread,” he added.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general of ACI World, said the united position of the air transport industry on what needs to be done to protect connectivity “is a clear signal to regulators of the extreme urgency of the situation.”
“Action is needed now as any delay makes recovery for air transport, and the global economy, more difficult. We need regulators to recognize the crisis we are in and act with speed and flexibility,” de Oliveira stressed.
“It is important that relevant authorities take appropriate action to secure the aviation industry the necessary predictability in the planning process in these extraordinary times for the entire industry,” said Fred Andreas Wister, chairman of WWACG.
Photo by Skyler Smith on Unsplash
