navylad

The winter season goes from the last Sunday in October until the last Saturday in March, so that is 154 days worth of slots available to be flown...

FlyerTalker39574

I’m thinking on a per day basis.

Akoz

But at how many slot pairs per day are in the winter season, compared to what is flying now?

jonas123

APD is £13 and Heathrow passenger service charge is c.£15 to Europe (both departing only). So ignoring all other passenger variable costs, they would need £14 each way to break even, assuming the flight is already happening

Jumbodriver

Its not a huge increase on the current plan for the winter though. What's happening now isn't really relevant. The point is that BA do have the capacity to operate 80% slots if they need to.

Given that large parts of the planet remain off limits I think its very unlikely the rule will return for the winter season anyway.

TWCLAM

The boss of Wizz Air seems to think they have the liquidity and is calling for the end of the relaxation of slot relief ( I think highly opportunistically). He has been quite vocal previously essentially telling Branson 'we wont rent your slots until you want them back and kick us out. We will buy them and kick you out' ( im paraphrasing but amazingly more accurate than you'd think).

Imho he is directing his aim at BA in the article below. Of note is that they brought a massive tranche of slots at LGW recently. Pre Covid he has long stated that they would like to have a major hub at LGW

https://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/381627/wizz-air-condemns-15bn-gatwick-slot-blocking-fraud#:~:text=Wizz%20Air%20condemns%20%C2%A31.5bn% 20Gatwick%20slot%20blocking%20'fraud',-by%20Phil%20Davies&text=Chief%20executive%20Jozsef %20Varadi%20said,well%20as%20the%20travelling%20pu blic.%E2%80%9D

13901

[pedantic] Considering that Wizz doesn't do transfers, the word 'hub' is a bit of a misnomer for them [/pedantic]

navylad

With under 4 planes per listed current base, this is just a tactic in my opinion to try and get a slot pair or two rather than the airline realistically being able to move large scale operations to LGW without closing a base elsewhere, tempting for an LCC without significant operations in LGW/LHR to campaign for the end of the Slot waiver to acquire some slots as a longer term investment, but I doubt that would realistically provide much benefit to Uk travellers in the short term.

Akoz

With 11 weeks to the end of the current slot suspension other then the IATA calling for an extension, and others like LHR calling for it to end, does anyone have any reliable source on any news?

Would it ending have any effect to cementing a schedule rather then the current short notice flip flop cancellations that keep messing us about?

jonas123

I think IATA are the only reliable source on this at the moment, and it seems that they are not getting traction right now. I suspect if the rules are not suspended, you'll see carriers filing their winter schedules early and cutting as much as they can to meet the 80:20 rule. You'll probably see lots of domestic and short routes pop back up! I'm also assuming that some slot waivers will apply at non-EU airports. I'm not sure how you could justify BA, VS, AA, DL, UA etc. keeping their previous schedules to JFK when the passenger restrictions are still in place.

binman

In the interest of some genuine competition at LHR the requirement to fly should be enforced. If BA can’t make it work let others have a go.
domestically competition is desperately required.
EU - no reason why low cost carriers should now have access. I don’t like Ryan air but if he can make slits work let him try. The condition being it must be to major hubs not remote airfields a hundred klm away.
long haul- the options are endless. SQ, QR CX LH AF on the JFK route or LAX- genuine RTW options.

allowing them in also open up FQTv options and perhaps branded credit cards.

can but dream

13901

All well and good but... where are the passengers?

Keiran Newberry

In normal times you'd be right, let them go to someone who could use them better. Even if airlines were doing alright at the moment and still making money (or at least not losing any) and were just choosing to fly less to save money.

As it is, these aren't normal times. Already hard-hit airlines will be sent to the wall if you force them to fly unprofitable routes for, genuinely, an unknown length of time. And that would benefit nobody.

I'm all for competition, but I feel right now you wouldn't create any, you'd just exacerbate the financial issues the airlines already have.

There's barely the demand for a half service, let alone a normal service. So who exactly has the passenger to expand their operation and take say 5 or 10 slot pairs at an expensive airport like LHR!? I don't see it personally.
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binman

build it and they will come!

the issue is restrictions at home and abroad. LHR is heavily dependent on the US and no one will go, but as restrictions ease pent up demand will see numbers rise.

i appreciate we won’t return to pre covid travel
but like BA don’t waste this opportunity to shake up aviation, Heathrow and the passenger experience.

Keiran Newberry

If demand will rise once restrictions are lifted, surely it would be unfair to remove slots from an airline before these restrictions are eased? Otherwise they can't meet the surge in demand when travel is a bit more freely allowed again