UK set to extend airport slot waiver - ACL statement

Britain's move to extend the waiver could see it diverge from an EU proposal made in December to restore some slot competition this year.

Britain is set to extend the waiver on airport slot rules for the summer season, a statement from Airport Coordination Limited (ACL), an independent slot co-ordination company, said on Friday.

Rules governing takeoff and landing rights at once-busy airports have been suspended since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, freeing airlines from the obligation to use 80% of their take-off and landing windows or else cede some to rivals, so-called "use it or lose it" rules. ACL said that alleviation would be granted in the UK for the Northern Summer 2021, subject to slots being returned three weeks or more in advance of the planned operation. It added that newly allocated slots are excluded from the alleviation.

Britain's Department for Transport had no immediate comment when asked about the extension of the waiver. Britain's move to extend the waiver could see it diverge from an EU proposal made in December to restore some slot competition this year. It is the UK's first decision on airport slot rules since it left the European Union's orbit on Dec. 31.

Low-cost airlines like Europe's biggest airline Ryanair and Wizz Air are impatient to see a return to normal rules, arguing that the suspension stops them from adding new flights and creating competition.