Delta Buys LHR Slot for $19.5M

Old Jan 12, 2017, 1:10 pm
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Delta Buys LHR Slot for $19.5M

Per OMAAT:

"Delta Air Lines will pay Croatia Airlines $19.5 million for a 5x weekly London Heathrow slot, which they’ll take over starting April 1, 2017."

It's 5x weekly late-morning slot that excludes Monday and Friday service. DL will miss out on those two peak business travel days, but it seems like they got a great deal here.

Any guesses what the slot might be used on?


http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...heathrow-slot/

Last edited by KDCAflyer; Jan 12, 2017 at 1:16 pm
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 1:30 pm
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PDX possibly (leave around 1800 local time, land around 1200 UK time); another possibility is CVG (leave around 2230 local time, land around 1130 UK time).
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 1:31 pm
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Only $19.5M? Wow, cheap.
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 1:31 pm
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Originally Posted by ND76
PDX possibly (leave around 1800 local time, land around 1200 UK time); another possibility is CVG (leave around 2230 local time, land around 1130 UK time).
Don't taunt me lol
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 2:29 pm
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5x weekly service excluding Monday and Friday seems to me like it might be more likely to go to extra frequencies on an existing market than starting a new one. Serving a market but without MF service is a bit awkward.
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 2:34 pm
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Originally Posted by ashill
5x weekly service excluding Monday and Friday seems to me like it might be more likely to go to extra frequencies on an existing market than starting a new one. Serving a market but without MF service is a bit awkward.
Any idea when DL can drop the PHL route? IIRC, DOT is requiring them to maintain it for a certain amount of time.
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 2:42 pm
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Originally Posted by ashill
5x weekly service excluding Monday and Friday seems to me like it might be more likely to go to extra frequencies on an existing market than starting a new one. Serving a market but without MF service is a bit awkward.
That's what I put money on. No new route would see less-than-daily service without the top days. My guess that this slot would go to a DL hub. MSP certainly could use a bump, for example.
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 2:45 pm
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Weren't there rumors about closing/de-emphasizing MSP in favor of DTW?
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 2:45 pm
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I'd like to see LAX-LHR come back but I'm not holding my breath

(and yes, I know VS has a couple of daily flights)
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 2:51 pm
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Originally Posted by WWads
Any idea when DL can drop the PHL route? IIRC, DOT is requiring them to maintain it for a certain amount of time.
From the EU's approval of the AA-US merger:

As a general rule, the Slots obtained by a prospective entrant under the final Commitments must be used to provide a non-stop scheduled passenger air transport service operated on the London Heathrow Philadelphia airport pair and cannot be used on another city pair unless the prospective entrant has operated such service during the Utilization Period (six consecutive IATA seasons)114. Once the Utilization Period has elapsed, the prospective entrant will be entitled to use the Slots on any city pair ("grandfathering").
So DL has to operate PHL-LHR for six IATA seasons (is that three years?) if they want to keep the slot. It looks like they started in April 2015, so I think that means until sometime in early 2018.
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 3:03 pm
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Originally Posted by WWads
Any idea when DL can drop the PHL route? IIRC, DOT is requiring them to maintain it for a certain amount of time.
Please no. It's (PHL-LHR) easy access to the best dice tables on the East Coast; and easy access to Delta One for 62,5k FlyingBlue miles, with very low taxes ex-USA.
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 3:08 pm
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Keep in mind that DL has a good number of LHR slots already, as does their JV/ATI partner VS. They could juggle around existing flights, frequencies, etc, and whatever they do add (new service or increased frequency) may not arrive at these times and/or have these day of week restrictions

(e.g. VS could drop one of their routes to 5-weekly if such a move made sense for the JV)
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 3:11 pm
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Originally Posted by baccarat_king
Please no. It's (PHL-LHR) easy access to the best dice tables on the East Coast; and easy access to Delta One for 62,5k FlyingBlue miles, with very low taxes ex-USA.
Here's the problem:
Attached Images   
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 3:28 pm
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A non-hub/rival hub international flight is a relic of a bygone era. That PHL-LHR flight is such an oddity that if you fly it, you should maybe keep the tickets in mint condition. They might be worth something on Ebay in 20 years .
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Old Jan 12, 2017, 6:56 pm
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Originally Posted by Ber2dca
A non-hub/rival hub international flight is a relic of a bygone era. That PHL-LHR flight is such an oddity that if you fly it, you should maybe keep the tickets in mint condition. They might be worth something on Ebay in 20 years .
a screenshot of a confirmation email and a BP?
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