Airport slot coordination is the process that allocates scarce airport capacity to airlines in advance of each scheduling season. It ensures airline schedules can be planned according to the available airport capacity, preventing unnecessary delays on the day and optimizing the efficient use of this heavily demanded infrastructure when fully implemented.
The Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) are the foundation of the global slot coordination process. The WASG is jointly published by IATA, Airports Council International (ACI) and the Worldwide Airport Coordinators Group (WWACG). The WASG is built on the pillars of transparency, flexibility, certainty, consistency, and sustainability. Thanks to continual update and revision, the WASG represents the globally accepted best practice and ensures that slots at coordinated airports are neutrally and fairly allocated to airlines using consistent policies, principles, and processes.
Download the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) Edition 3
The IATA Slots team produce a monthly policy update, a briefing designed to keep the slots industry up to date on key aero-political developments around the world, and some of IATA’s activities in the previous month related to slots.
Recent cargo updates include the announcement of Dublin Airport opening a new north runway which includes planning requirements to reduce runway movements to 65 per night (peak schedule is around 114 per night). Cargo carriers are likely to be impacted if the lower limit is enforced.
Activities at Heathrow Airport (LHR) are also causing concern. A 1991 Traffic Distribution Rule prevents Cargo carriers from gaining historic rights for future operations, meaning Cargo operators must rely upon ad hoc slot availability. In addition to this, the Slot Coordinator has adjusted their slot policy, resulting in there being no ad hoc slot availability at LHR and some other UK airports. This is a huge concern for airlines attempting to plan future flights that have traditionally taken place at LHR.
The IATA Slots team work closely with airports, government, authorities and operators to raise awareness of these decisions within the air cargo supply chain and advocate with key parties involved to minimise the negative impact on cargo carriers.
If you have information to share with other Head Airline Representatives of an aero-political nature, please let us know so we can inform the slot industry through this channel on a monthly basis. For more information or to provide feedback, please contact slots@iata.org.