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Airline associations in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa have rallied together to urge governments to adopt the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) into legislation in order to “keep pace with industry change” and ensure fair competition.
In a joint statement released on Thursday (15 June) at the 152nd Slot Conference in Dublin, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), Airlines for America (A4A), Airlines International Representation in Europe (AIRE), Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO), Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA), European Express Association, European Regions Airline Association (ERAA), International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) called on governments to remain aligned with the WASG and warned that unilateral change could have “unintended impacts on other aspects of the slot system”.
“Divergence from the WASG and fragmentation of slot regulation [rules] risks disruption to airline schedules and imperils the advances in global connectivity, efficiency, competition and choice from which the aviation industry and consumers have benefitted for many years,” the statement said.
“Throughout its five decades of existence, the WASG has been continually updated and improved in order to reflect the pace of change in the air transport industry,” the statement continued.
Recent changes to the WASG include the new entrant definition, which has been expanded to increase access opportunities at congested airports, and slot performance monitoring, which has been enhanced, according to the statement, to ensure optimal use of allocated slots.
“We therefore request governments to align with the WASG dynamically, so that ongoing enhancements to the WASG are immediately reflected in national or regional rules and regulations,” the nine associations said in the statement.
The moves follows the recent reinstatement of regular airline slot rules in the UK after the 80:20 “use it or lose it” rules were at first suspended and then reintroduced at a lower level of usage during the pandemic.
The statement also opposes recent claims made by airports’ organisation ACI Europe that the EU Airport Slot Regulation is out of date.
IATA director general Willie Walsh added that the WASG is the “unsung hero the air transport system” and that the guidelines have allowed for strong competition, route diversity and “constant growth” in air connectivity.
Governments should align their slot rules with this global standard to benefit from better air connectivity, efficiency and consumer choice,” he said.
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