IATA Slots Special - Oct 2023

SLOTS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

SLOTS

WHY AIRPORT SLOTS – AND THE GLOBAL RULES THAT MANAGE THEM – ARE SO IMPORTANT P01 Cover_Airlines-Slots Supplement-2023_Airlines International.indd 1

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Grow your airport with data you can trust

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Contents: Special Supplement

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IATA Corporate Communications Vice President Anthony Concil Creative Direction Richard McCausland Assistant Director Chris Goater www.iata.org Editorial Editor Graham Newton Head of content production DeeDee Doke Production editor Vanessa Townsend Senior designer Gary Hill Picture editor Claire Echavarry Production Production manager Jane Easterman +44 (0)20 7880 6248 jane.easterman@redactive.co.uk Publishing director Aaron Nicholls Advertising Business development manager +44 (0)20 7324 2763 airlines@redactive.co.uk

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Follow IATA on Twitter @IATA and join our LinkedIn group For Airlines subscription requests, or change of address notifications, email Airlinesint@iata.org We welcome feedback and content ideas

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05: Comment

08: Interview

Willie Walsh, IATA Director General

The Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) are the unsung hero of the air transport system

Understanding each other's challenges Robert Whitehouse, Vice-President at Dubai Airports, leading Research Unit for Strategy and Development

06: Interview

10: Data

Continuity is the watchword John Strickland, aviation consultant, Visiting Professor at Coventry University, and Visiting Fellow at Cranfield University

In numbers How slot rules underpin growing connectivity

07: Interview Consistency with continual evolution Petra Popovac, CEO of ACA Australia and chair of the WASB, the WWACG, and Asia Pacific Airport Coordinators Association

Airlines ISSN 1360-6387

14: Glossary A-Z of slots Key concepts in the world of airport slots

18: Further information Want to know more?

Links to videos explaining more about slots

airlines.iata.org

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This supplement features sponsored content

Slots Special Supplement Airlines

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24/10/2023 09:36

Willie Walsh: Slots and global standards

Slots must be managed using the proven global standard “The air transport industry thrives on consistent global standards. The Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines are the unsung hero of the air transport system. Because of the WASG, travelers, businesses, and economies the world over have benefited from constant growth in air connectivity, strong competition, and route diversity while ensuring that utilization of scarce airport capacity also increased.

Governments should align their slot rules with this global standard to benefit from better air connectivity, efficiency, and consumer choice.”

Willie Walsh, IATA Director General airlines.iata.org

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The Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) have been crucial for the development of today’s global air transport network, delivering benefits to consumers and the global economy.

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The WASG helps to create: Global consistency Stability, resilience, and adaptability Competition and choice Efficient use of infrastructure Transparency and fairness This Airlines magazine supplement explores the issue of airport slots in-depth, providing important insight for industry experts, regulators, and anyone with an interest in how the global air transport system works.

For further information, visit www.iata.org/slots Slots Special Supplement Airlines

26/10/2023 11:02

Special Supplement: Interview

Continuity is the watchword John Strickland, aviation consultant and Visiting Professor in airline business strategy at Coventry University and Visiting Fellow at Cranfield University.

Why are consistent global slot rules so important?

In a world of constrained airports, the slot system is an absolutely necessary framework through which we can get the maximum reliable punctual operation of flights.

Airlines want to plan timetables and operate reliably for their own operational efficiency and for the benefit of customers. It is a long, hard sweat for an airline to decide where it should fly, the best type of aircraft to fly, and the best time of day or the number of frequencies it should operate.

Airlines have to piece together a jigsaw of the slots they hold or slots they're seeking to obtain so that they fit together. That gets even more complicated if they need slots at the airports at both ends of a route.

So, airlines need certainty around the slot rules if they’re to do that reliably.

And from a customer point of view, they want to know that it can be counted on each time they travel.

IMAGE: ISTOCK

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Would you say the slot allocation system is fair?

The slot system is fair because it’s administered by an independent body—the slot coordinators—and

it’s not the airlines or the airports that decide what happens with slots. And the system is broadly adopted around the world to ensure that fairness prevails.

Airlines have to operate slots 80% of their theoretical maximum for each summer or winter season. And provided they do that they are able to use the slots again the following year in the same season. Those ‘grandfather rights’ mean that airlines can have confidence in continuity. The 80% threshold is a pretty high benchmark for airlines to have to fly and an independent coordination body at a particular airport will monitor the use of all slots to see if that threshold is observed. The system isn’t perfect—for example there are some inconsistencies in its application around the world— but it’s a case of tinkering for continued improvement rather than a need for radical change.

Would an alternative allocation system work?

Continuity is important to airlines from a commercial point of view, to use their resources properly, and for customers, knowing they can depend on a

Airlines Slots Special Supplement

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particular service and a particular route and a particular carrier. In many cases, to just offer capacity to the highest bidder would lead to all sorts of distortions.

The idea of a lottery is just lunacy. In my view, planning air services is a painstaking piece of work.

And as a former network planner, this isn’t just a question of months, it can be years once that decision has been taken to allocate those expensive aircraft and crew resources and slots have been obtained. And once an airline has begun that route to then have a lottery system that governs if you may or may not get to keep that slot access on which your route depends —I just don’t think this is a wise idea at all.

Ultimately, we need to make sure that there isn’t any complacency or abuse, especially by large players at congested airports. But continuity is absolutely the watchword for us as customers and for airlines who make an investment. I would argue the value of the slot is very much dependent on which airline is operating and what they invested to put in the right capacity and the right product to create the right service, so that customers will want to use it.

airlines.iata.org

26/10/2023 11:07

Interview: Special Supplement

Consistency with continual evolution Petra Popovac is the CEO of ACA Australia and a slot coordinator providing coordination at various airports. She is the chair of the Worldwide Airport Slot Board (WASB), chair of the Worldwide Airport Coordinators Group (WWACG), and the chair of the Asia Pacific Airport Coordinators Association.

How do the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) help slot coordinators do their job?

The WASG provides industry best practice guidelines on the slot coordination process. The airport provides a capacity declaration to the coordinator, who then receives the slot requests from the airlines. We take these into account alongside the capacity declaration and provide the slot allocation for scheduling two seasons a year. It’s very important because you can’t judge an airport in isolation. The WASG is a set of global guidelines that all coordinators at Level 2 and Level 3 airports are able to use to provide slot allocation in a harmonized way at each airport.

How do coordinators help airlines manage disruption which might occur within a season?

We work with the regulator and the airport and the airlines to advise on how to deal with temporary capacity reductions. We’ve also advised on dealing with the implications of the Ukraine war and the airspace closures.

And we look at our rules for Justified Non-Utilization of Slots (JNUS) and

how we’re able to offer airlines JNUS when required for situations that come up— especially since COVID. What can the WWACG do to help iron out inconsistencies?

The WWACG plays a really important role to get the coordinators together and get them communicating.

During COVID we had many more additional meetings than we would normally, and all the coordinators worked with each other to discuss their issues so that other coordinators could take those needs into account. So the WWACG helps bridge the gap between all the different airports. As I mentioned, airports cannot be treated in isolation.

It is a global system, and everyone needs to be aware of the constraints and restrictions that may exist.

What changes have improved the WASG in recent years?

There have been a number, but I’ll focus on two in particular. One is an enhancement to the new entrant rule.

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What that means is that new entrant airlines at an airport have a higher priority during the initial allocation. It’s an important change to the rules that gives improved access to congested airports. As airports get busier and busier its vital for new entrants to be able to access those peak slots.

The other point that’s changed is the slot monitoring and on-time performance. The guidelines have been greatly improved and expanded to make it a lot clearer to all the industry bodies how we monitor slots and how we measure on-time performance and what’s expected of the industry in that situation.

And at the slot conference in June 2023, the WASB agreed to amend another section of the WASG. So, it is something that is continuously evolving, and I think it is great that we now have the airports involved so we can have the three most important stakeholders involved in that process and get their feedback.

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What is the one critical benefit of the slot process that you’d like to highlight?

I think consistency is really important.

Especially consistency in implementation of the guidelines at congested airports so that airlines are treated similarly in each airport they operate into.

This interview is transcribed and slightly modified from a LinkedIn live conversation held at the 152nd Slot Conference in Dublin, June 2023.

For the full video, use the QR code, right.

Slots Special Supplement Airlines

26/10/2023 11:09

Special Supplement: Interview

Understanding challenges key to better performance Robert Whitehouse is Vice-President at Dubai Airports. He leads the Research Unit for Strategy and Development including traffic forecasting, master planning, capacity planning (including the airport capacity seasonal declaration), aviation business management, operational strategy, and customer experience.

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IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

Where does the airport fit into the slot process?

We clearly define what our capacity is and then we put that into a format that can be understood by Coordinator and the industry. The coordinator uses the capacity for the schedule coordination process, but we also need transparency with the airlines so they have visibility on what’s changing, what our capacities are and where we have constraints so if they

want to move some of their schedules, they can understand what will limit it and where the opportunities are.

The Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) provide a single guideline for consistency across the world. The adoption isn’t fully compliant across the world, but as a group, I think we’re getting there. We’re in a great place now to start advancing the WASG and making sure it fits with all

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of our requirements and needs to ensure greater adoption to a single set of guidelines.

How did the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines and Slot Board help you recover from the pandemic?

We’d never had an experience like this before, but the good thing about the Slot Board was that during the pandemic we met regularly, we documented ways to address problems, and we now have valuable reference points for going forward. Cooperation and understanding each other’s problems were key. For instance, the airlines may not appreciate the impact of filing a normal schedule at the airport, when this was highly unlikely to transpire.

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Interview: Special Supplement

We had discussions where we said, ‘These are the challenges we’ve got, what can we do to address it?’ ‘How can we use the coordinators to help support this?’ ‘How do we track it and what reasonable assumptions do we apply?’

The other thing with the pandemic was that the restrictions weren’t always lifted totally. There was always a caveat that maybe you needed a PCR test or there was a quarantine requirement. It was unrealistic to expect a normal operation when you’ve got those types of restrictions. People will not travel as they did pre-pandemic. So, the flexibility was crucial for airlines, but airports needed something realistic for planning.

How have changes to the WASG helped Dubai Airports?

It’s key that we evolve the WASG. It’s a good and consistent document that we can all use, but, like anything, over time it should continue to evolve and adapt.

We’ve also got different problems now.

There are different ways to optimize our airports and there are different ways we can utilize and maximize our capacity.

One of the biggest issues we have at Level 3 airports is making sure all stakeholders are aware of what’s

impacting our capacity. The Coordination Committee (CC) is a key process to establish and discuss the airport capacity, be it limited change or the impact of future development plans or the impact of construction works on airport capacity. Not all airports have this established.

The Slot Performance Committee is a sub-committee of the CC. It’s a way to communicate with the airlines and to understand scheduling discrepancy and operational performance issues. We could just ignore it, but we’re never going to be able to declare more capacity in the future unless our demand is consistent. What I mean by that is that an aircraft needs to turn up or depart, very close to when it is scheduled. If there are operational challenges, the coordinator can and should ask for an action plan.

The coordinators can explore alternative timings at either end of the route, and the airport could explore where they can improve operations or capacity—for instance by facilitating a discussion with the ground handlers, if the issue relates to aircraft turnaround.

From an airline perspective, it allows them to give us a better understanding of

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what’s causing them problems and how we can collectively resolve the issue.

Ultimately, we will start to see better performance and a better understanding of those problems, rather than just living with it and never actually being able to optimize capacity and get the most out of our infrastructure.

What is the most critical benefit of the slot process?

It’s about consistency and having common guidelines across the industry.

I don’t think we’re there yet in terms of everyone having the same style of adoption. I think with a combination of the Slot Board, with the Guidelines, and the industry groups that we’ve got sitting together, we’re in a great position to overcome all of those challenges and make sure it represents what we all need, to make it a success.

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This interview is transcribed and slightly modified from a LinkedIn live conversation held at the 152nd Slot Conference in Dublin, June 2023. For the full video, use the QR code, right.

Slots Special Supplement Airlines

26/10/2023 11:18

Special Supplement: Data

In numbers

Global slot rules have underpinned growing connectivity, increasing airport utilization, and more competition.

Source for all data and charts: IATA unless otherwise stated

30%

Increasing numbers of global slot coordinated airports Europe was home to 60%+ Level 3 airports 10-20 years ago, but is now home to only 50% L3 as other regions are getting constrained faster

225

10

27

23

25

Number of coordinated (Level 3) airports globally

13

150

5 13 7 97

7 13 9 98

7 13

13

14

13

13

13

23

23

13

13

103

104

23 14

11

11

10

100

100

101

16

107

of all global daily departures leave from an L3 airport

43% 50% of all global passengers pass through an L3 airport

104

52% of ASKs depart from L3 airports

75

46 34

35

36

38

37

37

37

38

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

0 2012 Asia Pacific

of L3 departures arrive at L3 airport

Europe

Middle East and Africa

History of slot policy development

North Asia

2023

The Americas

The Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) provide a process that is globally applicable for managing a lack of capacity to match demand Airline networks have grown despite congestion with slot rules, airports have increased routes and connectivity increased Increased complexity when airports at each end of a route are coordinated (Level 3) One set of rules is essential

1948

1969

1974

1986

1991

1993

Timetable Coordination Committees initiated

US High Density Rule

Scheduling Procedures Guide (SPG)

US Slot Procedures introduced

First slot Coordination Committee

EU Slot Regulation (Reg 95/93)

Capacity declaration Fair, transparent, neutral

Buy/Sell/Lease

London Heathrow Scheduling Committee Independent Coordinator

Mandated independent coordinators, followed SPG

1962 Committees held June/November, 2010 “Slot Conference”

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Data: Special Supplement

Of 205 Level 3 slot coordinated airports worldwide, 107 are in Europe alone Flights from the most congested European airports continue to increase

Slot utilization averages over 95% at key airports

Air traffic movements from EU Level 3 airports (millions)

Total slot utilization end of season/historic baseline data at London Heathrow, Paris-Orly, Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle, and London Gatwick

9m

Source: Steer analysis for the European Commission

8m 7m

90

6m

80 Annual movements

Annual movements

100

5m 4m 3m

70 60 50 40 30

2m 20 1m

10 0

0 2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

LHR

2019

ORY

FRA

CDG

LGW

11

2012

2022

Two or more airlines

Two or more airlines

28%

35%

Single airline

Single airline

72%

65%

Competition continues to expand Number of carriers on routes originating in the EU

1998

2000

2008

2010

2019

2020

2022

Australian Sydney Demand Management Regulation

Worldwide Scheduling Guidelines (WSG)

US Slot Orders

Worldwide Slot Guidelines (WSG)

Worldwide Airport Slot Board (WASB) formed with ACI, WWACG, IATA

Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG)

Brazilian Slot Resolution 338 significant update

Minimum series length

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Policy, process and principles concept Consolidated

New Entrant rule improved New slot performance management process Airports role and ability to input to Coordinator

Slots Special Supplement Airlines

26/10/2023 13:07

Sponsored Feature: CPK

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access, being both a destination and an attractive transfer location where all transport modes meet. The aim is to provide a true multimodal passenger journey, giving customers choice and improving sustainability.

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To support a positive passenger experience, CPK aims to introduce digital signs, biometric solutions, mobile applications, information kiosks, and smart shopping opportunities

Airlines Slots Special Supplement

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airlines.iata.org

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CPK: Sponsored Feature

IMAGES: ISTOCK/SHUTTERSTOCK

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the unique needs of the traveler. This will all be underpinned by a human touch created by a professional and hospitable staff.

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To support a positive passenger

airlines.iata.org

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experience, for example, CPK aims to introduce digital signs, biometric solutions, mobile applications, information kiosks, Wi-Fi infrastructure, and smart shopping opportunities.

The use of different kinds of systems should allow an optimized queuing time, not to mention light and temperature control, which will facilitate the passenger experience, and make the journey through the airport as seamless and pleasant as possible.

For more information on the new transport hub: Visit www.cpk.pl/en Slots Special Supplement Airlines

26/10/2023 11:29

Special Supplement: Glossary

A brief explanation of some of the key concepts in the world of airport slots

A

IS FOR AIR TRANSPORT NETWORK

B

IS FOR BALANCE

The consistent, globally harmonized slot rules have supported the current air transport network of over 48,000 routes—with just over half involving a Level 3 airport, airlines grow their networks carefully, and decisions to commit to a route are not taken lightly. Planning starts years in advance, and a route can take years to become profitable. Decisions on aircraft purchase and utilization, marketing, and crew and ground support are taken well in advance. This is only possible if airlines are confident that they will be able to obtain and retain an airport slot to operate that service.

IMAGES: ISTOCK/SHUTTERSTOCK

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A-Z of Slots

The Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) have evolved to strike a delicate and successful balance between the competing needs for stability, flexibility, high utilization, reliability, and increased competition. The WASG performs very well in this challenging task. It is not, however, the job of the WASG to fix capacity problems at airports, solve the environmental challenge facing the industry, or provide an alternative revenue stream for airports or governments. These tasks should be left to other regulatory mechanisms or solutions.

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Glossary: Special Supplement

C

IS FOR CONSUMER CHOICE AND COMPETITION

The slot allocation rules have enabled airlines to enter congested airports and grow their networks at very constrained airports, creating more consumer choice.

For example, the number of European routes with more than one airline operating has increased 37% since 2012.

Low-cost carriers, cargo integrators, charter operations, and numerous other kinds of air services have been able to expand alongside the more traditional airlines, despite many airports reaching their physical capacity limits.

D

IS FOR DECLARING AIRPORT CAPACITY

The starting point of the slot allocation system is the capacity declaration from an airport—informing the coordinator how many slots it has available for take-off and landing. This capacity is influenced not just by how many runways the airport has, but also terminal facilities, air traffic management situation, any operating restrictions related to noise, and other issues. As few airports are expanding, the regular and proper review of the capacity declaration is the basis of providing growth and access to a constrained airport and provides the opportunity for the airport to maximize its routes.

E

IS FOR EIGHTYTWENTY RULE

The 80-20 rule is a fundamental and longstanding rule in the WASG that has been transposed into regulations such as the European Slot Regulation. It means that when an airline obtains the right to

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operate a specific slot for a season (e.g. 12 weeks of the summer season on a Tuesday morning at 0800), it must operate at least 80% of those slots (in this case, 10 of the 12 weeks) to hold on to the same slot the following year (known as ‘grandfather rights’). The 80% level is considered the optimal balance between requiring the airlines to operate as planned while still giving them some flexibility and leeway to match flights to demand (which is better for environmental and financial sustainability—see ‘Variable demand’).

F

IS FOR FLEXIBILITY

Flexibility is a founding principle of the slot process because the operating environment is unpredictable. Airlines must ensure sustainable and consistent operations, despite having to plan them months in advance. The flexibility afforded by the 80-20 rule is crucial alongside other policies in the WASG. If the level were set higher—say a 90-10 rule—this would force airlines to operate flights where there might be low demand, which is bad for the environment.

Flexibility is key and very underrated— but must be a pivotal feature of the process moving forward to ensure sustainability objectives can be met at congested airports.

G

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IS FOR GLOBAL

The air transport network is globally interconnected.

Around half of all passenger journeys depart from a Level 3 slot coordinated airport. It is therefore crucial that slot rules must be global in their adoption and harmonized so they work consistently the world over. An airline planning its schedule may need Slots Special Supplement Airlines

26/10/2023 13:11

Special Supplement: Glossary

to connect between two slot-regulated airports. It is vital that the rules governing the airports at both ends of the route are the same.

H 16

IS FOR HISTORIC PRECEDENCE

The fundamental principle of the slot process that has allowed airlines to invest and develop their network globally. Without this concept, by which airlines retain access to congested airports if they utilize their slots sufficiently, airlines would not be able to invest in new fleet, risk opening new routes, or add additional flights to popular destinations. It allows airlines to sell tickets for flights more than six months in advance and underpins the airports’ ability to plan.

I

IS FOR INDEPENDENT COORDINATION

Coordinators are the guardians of rules, ensuring that they are interpreted expertly and without bias.

Without coordinators that are independent from the airlines and the airport (and ideally the regulator), the slot system could be captured by local interests and be made to favor certain parties. This would risk retaliation elsewhere and threaten the smooth operation of the systems.

J

IS FOR JUSTIFIED NON UTILIZATION OF SLOTS (JNUS)

An important policy that means airlines are not penalized for not operating when there is a valid reason, such as an ATC strike, airport closure, or extreme weather event. This concept underpinned the support the sector received through the COVID pandemic when flights were inoperable due to

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border closures.

Without this concept the airlines would lose slots unnecessarily and for reasons they could not control, removing their ability to continue operating an airport in the future.

M

IS FOR MONITORING OF PERFORMANCE

Slot performance monitoring is a vital part of the slot process and makes up half of the coordinator’s job. It was recently updated and enhanced in the WASG, and this more robust approach to monitoring and improving performance should be adopted at all congested airports. The process of monitoring performance determines trends, such as poor on time performance on routes (across all operators) and identifies isolated misuse instances that need managing.

N

IS FOR NEW ENTRANTS

Ensuring that new carriers can get access to airports is an important element of the slot rules and pro-competition policy. They stipulate that 50% of new or available capacity must be allocated to new airlines. Under the WASG a new entrant can operate up to three flights a day while getting this priority access. This is how low-cost carriers have managed to enter already-congested airports and expand successfully (for example, easyJet has become the largest operator at London Gatwick). At the same time, carriers that have invested in routes from a particular airport for years can

also provide competition through further expansion of their operations—and equally deserve a chance to expand if new capacity becomes available. The 50% ratio provides both groups with the opportunity to request additional access.

P

IS FOR POLITICIANS

R

IS FOR REGULATION

Political stakeholders play a crucial role in enabling the global air transport network to flourish.

Politicians and policymakers make laws and regulations that govern the slots system. It is vital they have all the latest information and are aware of the experts, such as those in the Worldwide Airport Slot Board (WASB), who are available to advise them. Politicians and their aides managing a heavy regulatory workload cannot be expected to have total in-depth knowledge. Any policymaker with questions on how the slot system functions should contact IATA or the WASB for further information.

The WASG has been transposed or mirrored into regulatory law in many countries, with over 90% alignment to the core principles of the guidelines worldwide.

Adopting the WASG makes global harmonization of slot rules much easier and more effective. Conversely, it is important that national or regional slot regulations keep up with changes to the WASG. The WASG is continually reviewed and revised to keep up with changes to the air transport market. It is airlines.iata.org

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Glossary: Special Supplement

vital these improvements are reflected in national regulations that can be agile and responsive to the improvements the WASB regularly introduces to the WASG.

S

IS FOR STABILITY, SCHEDULES, AND SUCCESS

The slot rules have provided much needed stability in schedules for decades. Consumers have been able to rely on connections between countries and enjoyed the predictability of knowing there was a route that served their business, personal or leisure purposes. Without the certainty of the slot historic precedence provided by the system, airline schedules would frequently change, flight times flip-flop each season, and trade routes and leisure patterns would be disrupted.

T

IS FOR TRANSPARENCY

U

IS FOR UTILIZATION

For the system to function properly, trust in the impartial application of the slots rules must be absolute. The transparency of the rules and the independence of the coordinator guarantee that one carrier is not favored over another, or certain routes prioritized to the detriment of competition.

The utilization rate is the rate at which an airport’s declared slot capacity is being used. It is an important measure, particularly for highly congested airports that must minimize any waste of their runway or terminal capacity. Thanks to the 80-20 rule and other measures in the WASG, the utilization rates at congested airports continue to climb in line with high demand. At Heathrow, for instance, this

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rate is around 98%, and most of the other major airports have utilization rates well over 90%. It is a mistake to think that the 80-20 rule means airlines only operate 80% of the time. In fact, airlines schedule as close to 100% as they can and routinely match these levels, leading to almost maximum available capacity use.

V

IS FOR VARIABLE DEMAND

Slot allocation is divided into the Northern Summer and Northern Winter seasons (MayOctober and November-April respectively). Each airport slot—for example, 0800 on a Tuesday morning— is grouped into a series of a certain number of weeks (as described in the entry on the 80-20 rule above, a minimum five weeks of services). The challenge for airlines planning the use of at least 80% of slots over the complete series is that demand is not constant. A Tuesday morning flight might be expected to have consistent demand for business travel, but not if one end of the route has a public holiday on one of the Tuesdays, for example. If an airline knows when demand is likely to be variable, it can consolidate flights on that day and not operate the slot. That makes for a more financially and environmentally sustainable system and is another reason why the 80-20 rule is so effective.

W

IS FOR WASG AND WASB

The WASG (Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines) and WASB (Worldwide Airport Slot Board)

have been around since 1970 but have evolved considerably since that time.

In 2020 the airlines and coordinators welcomed the airports to the WASB, strengthening its role as a truly representative board working together to enhance the system. The WASG has been revised and updated many times to reflect changes in the air transport network. For example: the new entrant rule has been modified to give greater access to new carriers; slot performance monitoring has been enhanced; the airport’s ability to provide coordinators their business plans has been engrained in the request process; and measures for managing disruption to the capacity declaration have been formulated.

Y

17

IS FOR WHY REINVENT THE WHEEL?

The WASG has been the foundation of decades of successful global growth of aviation connectivity, consumer choice, and efficiency. The system has evolved methodically under the care of industry experts to reflect the needs of travelers, air freight forwarders, airports, and airlines. It works because the rules are transparent and globally harmonized. Rather than undertake unique, wholesale radical reform, regulators are requested to adopt the current version of the WASG and work with the WASB on any additional changes which may be needed— thereby avoiding chaos that will hurt the success that travelers and business have come to expect and value.

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Special Supplement: Further information

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Want to know more about airport slots?

IATA has a wealth of information available for anyone interested to know more about airport slots. You can find most of the material at www.iata.org/slots including links to information about the twice-yearly slot conference, the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines, and more.

Scan the QR code above to access a great video featuring slots experts from across the industry explaining how the system is vital for the smooth functioning of the global air transport system.

Still want more?

These two videos give a ‘slots 1-0-1’ overview and a review of how the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines work. Scan the QR codes for more.

Our Special Supplement is not the only place you can learn about airport slots.

IATA has produced a selection of videos using experts across the industry.

Finally, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact the IATA slots team on slots@iata.org

Airlines Slots Special Supplement

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