Impact of Airport Slot Rules on BA
 

The current suspension of the 80/20 slot rules is due to end on 24th October. This of course impacts BA at LHR & LGW (could this be why currently BA flight from LGW are due to restart in November?), I'm sure that BA would like this suspension to be extended, but will it be? With LHR are lobbying for the suspension to end, along with airlines wanting more space some airports, for example like Wizz at LGW also lobbying for it to end, will BA find itself having to defend these slots?

I think it will be extended through to the next season start in March 2021

agreed, i can't see it coming back in until at least summer 2021.

The EU does not want it extending.

Even if it is, everyone accepts it must have conditions. For example, anyone who asks for Winter slots from the pool will be obliged to operate them - this means that the slots to be allocated only go to airlines who intend to use, and not stockpile, them.

Final decisions on UK slots will be political. UK's HMG has always maintained, at DfT level, that HMG "owns" the slots. Slot trading ignores this, and has not been challenged in the UK.

Most "purchases" of slots, at LHR, (as opposed to takeover inheritance) have been by Chinese airlines.

Living close to LHR I think it would be great if the rule was brought back with the change to the winter timetable.

There are lots of destinations not served or poorly served from LHR at present and it would be good to see a shake down on all fronts and perhaps see new airlines and new destinations.

Use them or lose them.

If the 80/20 were to return soon, I can see BA filling all of their LHR slots with mostly shorthaul (fills more slots with fewer aircraft and flight/cabin crew than longhaul)
At Gatwick, if other airlines want to expand, I'm sure BA would be more than happy to lease some slots it would rather not be operating just yet.

I thought there were different types of slots - short and log haul? So, BA wouldn't be able to just replace a IAH flight with a MAN flight?

Do you really think that - in the current scenario - anyone would start opening up routes come October?

This isn't BA being up to the neck in manure due to its incompetence. Everyone in the industry is up to their eyeballs in the brown stuff.

The US3 lost, excluding exceptionals, between $2 and $4 billion in 3 months. The EU carriers aren't far behind. Ditto the MEs, same as above for Asia. We've seen the demise of a fair few airlines, many - from LATAM to Aeromexico - are declaring bankruptcy or Chapter 11 or other equivalents. There are some crippling limitations to access to basically the entire globe, and even if you consider all that... the real economies of most of the world are taking a battering not seen since the '30s. To think that some other airline could open up a new route this year, in the current situation, with the current state of demand, it's science fiction.

On the topic of slots, from IATA's slot chief:

rest here: https://www.flightglobal.com/network...139327.article

I can't see how it would not be extended, or at least huge flexiblity given. It's a big disadvantage to a base carrier such as BA at LHR, or even easyJet at LGW you could argue, AF, KLM, LH etc.. A number of places in the world are just not realistically serviceable at any scale at the moment. Take the US, or the whole of the Americas.

You'd have governmental decisions massively impacting carriers ability to fly to places, and at the same time you'd be taking slots off carriers for not flying. Doesn't make any sense to me, especially given the continued uncertainty. If the EU don't want it extending as Raffles said above, then they better have some plan of coordinating opening up the majority of countries by the end of October.

I don’t think there are given EU SH carriers have sold their slots to LH operators such as AF/KLM selling to Oman Air and SAS selling to AA.

I think there was part of the proposal by LHR to slot restrict a percentage to domestic flights if the third runway is built, but that isn’t yet on place.

If the rule were maintained, or not completely waived, the only beneficiaries would be airlines using government money to slot sit. That's not going to be EU, or even US, airlines, but airlines from places such as China which will benefit from a long-term strategic viewpoint. At the current time, I can't see the UK Government, or even the EU authorities, wanting to pave the way for a huge long term benefit for China. Also, the EU won't want it to become easier for the UK to expand links with Pacific Basin economies.

As my name suggests, I live close to LHR too and I would also like to see the 80/20 rule reintroduced with the start of the winter timetable.

There is far too much duplication on routes and inefficiency with aircraft types e.g. the A380 is never used to JFK but the nonsense about the need for an hourly service is trotted out but of course it can and does only operate in one direction while returning almost everything is bunched together and still people fly.

On shorthaul KLM operate three services in 90 minutes using E75s, again a total waste of resource when one 738 would probably carry everyone.

Who knows, for the winter not all slots may be taken but the opportunity should be there for change and it's long overdue and needed.

I accept that BA devotees will disagree.

I know that demand has fallen of a cliff, but with many routes being served at poor times and at in may cases quite high prices. Would a return to some part of the slot rules increase flexibility, bring prices down, and thus stimulate demand?

I know that there are plenty of places we are currently told by the FCO not to go to, but elsewhere I do keep wondering if some demand is affected by the current supply or lack there of. Chicken or egg?

Apart from a few with restrictions from the BD merger the slots can be used for anything.