Consultation outcome

Bristol Airport's application for year-round slot coordination

Updated 1 March 2021

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Foreword

1/ This short consultation seeks your views on two issues:

1. whether Bristol Airport should be designated as fully “coordinated” by the Secretary of State for Transport for the purposes of the EEC Regulation No 95/93 on slot allocation (as amended) and the associated UK slot allocation regulations (the UK regulations)
2. if so, whether you agree that the Secretary of State for Transport should approve the appointment of Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) as the designated coordinator for Bristol Airport on a permanent year-round basis

2/ Responses should be sent by 11.45pm on Friday 26 June 2020 (previously 3 April 2020 and extended due to COVID-19 pandemic) to the Department for Transport at the email or postal address at the end of this consultation paper.

Airport slot allocation categories

3/ EEC regulation 95/93 (the regulation) establishes rules that help ensure the non-discriminatory, efficient and transparent allocation of slots and facilitation of schedule changes at busy EC airports, to help make the most efficient use of airport capacity.

4/ As part of this, the regulation effectively provides for 3 categories of airport slot coordination status, reflecting the degree of potential congestion at an airport and the intervention needed to help reduce congestion and delays.

The categories are:

• coordinated – the most congested airports, where all slots must be allocated by an independent coordinator in accordance with the regulation. In the UK, London Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, London City, Luton, Manchester and Birmingham are coordinated airports. Bristol is partially coordinated for night-time operations in the summer season.
• schedules facilitated – airports where there is potential for congestion at certain times and where an independent “schedules facilitator” has a formal role under the regulation to seek to ensure that airlines’ planned air services can all be accommodated by voluntary agreements between airlines.
• other – less busy airports where airlines’ air service schedules can generally all be accommodated without difficulty.

5/ Under the regulation an airport has to be designated as “coordinated” or “schedules facilitated” by the relevant member state. In the UK this power is exercised by the Secretary of State for Transport.

6/ Under the UK regulations, the airport operator then appoints a coordinator or schedules facilitator as appropriate. This appointment is subject to the Secretary of State’s approval following consultation with the airport users, their representatives and, where appropriate, coordination committees.

7/ The airport categories in the regulation are, by design, very similar to the 3 levels of airport in the IATA Worldwide Scheduling Guidelines (the IATA Guidelines). Level 3 in the IATA Guidelines corresponds to ‘coordinated’, level 2 to ‘schedules facilitated’ and level 1 to other airports. The IATA Guidelines also outline similar roles to the regulation for a coordinator at a level 3 airport or a schedules facilitator at a level 2 airport. The IATA Guidelines apply to airports across the world but, unlike the EEC and UK regulations, are not legally binding.

Process for designation of an airport as coordinated

8/ The regulation sets out the provisions by which a member state may designate an airport as coordinated:

• the member state responsible shall ensure that a thorough capacity analysis is carried out at an airport with no designation status or at a schedules facilitated airport by the managing body of that airport or by any other competent body when that member state considers it necessary, or within 6 months:

1 - following a written request from air carriers representing more than half of the operations at an airport or from the managing body of the airport when either considers that capacity is insufficient for actual or planned operations at certain periods

or

2 - upon request from the European Commission (article 3:3)

• on the basis of the analysis, the member state shall consult on the capacity situation at the airport with the managing body of the airport, the air carriers using the airport regularly, their representative organisations, representatives of general aviation using the airport regularly and air traffic control authorities (article 3:4)
• where capacity problems occur for at least one scheduling period, the member state shall ensure that the airport is designated as coordinated for the relevant period only if:

1. the shortfall is of such a serious nature that significant delays cannot be avoided at the airport
2. there are no possibilities of resolving these problems in the short term (article 3:5)

Background to Bristol Airport’s application to become coordinated

9/ In November 2019, Bristol Airport’s operator contacted the Department for Transport requesting formal designation as fully “coordinated” on a permanent year-round basis in accordance with article 3 of the regulation, from the IATA winter 2020/2021 season onwards.

10/ The airport operator concludes that this would put in place effective controls to allow projected commercial traffic growth to make more efficient use of the airport’s existing infrastructure on a year-round basis, and thereby remain within current planning conditions set by North Somerset Council.

Airport capacity analysis

11/ The EU regulation requires that an airport seeking a change to its slot coordination status must commission a thorough airport capacity analysis. This analysis, based on commonly recognised methods, shall determine any shortfall in capacity, considering environmental constraints at the airport in question. The analysis shall consider the possibilities of overcoming such shortfall through new or modified infrastructure, operational changes, or any other change, and the timeframe envisaged to resolve the problems. It shall be updated when there are changes at the airport influencing significantly its capacity and capacity usage (article 3).

12/ Bristol Airport’s capacity analysis of December 2019, which forms the basis of this consultation, was produced for the airport by consultants Mott Macdonald.

The analysis examines the airport’s capacity in the following areas:

• environmental constraints, page 7 to 11
• runway capacity, page 12 to 17
• stand capacity, page 18 to 20
• terminal capacity, page 21 to 33
• other capacity analysis, page 34 to 35
• conclusions, page 36

Implications of coordination

13/ The regulation and the UK regulations set out in detail the rights and responsibilities of airlines, airports and the coordinator that would apply if the airport were to be designated as coordinated. The key points of the article likely to be of most relevance to this consultation are summarised below, although respondents should consider all the content of the regulations and if appropriate obtain independent legal advice.

The EU regulation

14/ A coordinated airport is defined as an airport where, in order to land or take off, it is necessary for an air carrier or any other aircraft operator to have been allocated a slot by a coordinator, with the exception of state flights, emergency landings and humanitarian flights (article 2).

15/ The coordinator shall be the sole person responsible for the allocation of slots. The process of allocation is managed according to “grandfather rights” for a series of slots (article 8: 2), whereby an air carrier that has used a series of slots for the operation of scheduled and programmed non-scheduled air services is entitled to continue using the same series of slots, albeit under conditions including the so-called “use it or lose it” rule (article 10: 4).

16/ Any newly created slots and others not allocated to air carriers on the basis of historic rights shall be placed into a slots pool, from which 50% of slots are allocated according to the ‘new entrant’ rule for pool slots allocation (articles 2: (b) & 10: 6).

17/ Slots can be transferred within the operations of an air carrier and its subsidiaries or exchanged between air carriers (article 8a: 1).

18/ The coordinator shall monitor the conformity of air carriers’ operations with the slots allocated to them (article 4: 6).

19/ Enforcement action may be taken by the coordinator against those airlines that do not operate according to the regulations (article 14), by introducing sanctions for slot misuse (article 14: 5). See also paragraphs 23 and 24 below.

20/ A slot coordination committee must be established and maintained. The coordination committee tasks shall make proposals or advise the coordinator and/or the member state on issues including possibilities for increasing the capacity of the airport, the coordination parameters, the methods of monitoring the use of allocated slots and serious problems encountered by new entrants (article 5: 1).

21/ Membership of the coordination committee must be open to the air carriers using the airport regularly, their representative organisations, the managing body of the airport concerned, the relevant air traffic control authorities and the representatives of general aviation using the airport regularly (article 5: 1).

22/ The determination of the parameters for slot allocation and the methodology used, as well as any changes thereto, shall be discussed in detail within the coordination committee with a view to increasing the capacity and number of slots available for allocation, before a final decision on the parameters for slot allocation is taken (article 6: 3).

The UK Slot Allocation Regulations 2006^{[footnote 1]}

23/ The UK Slot Allocation Regulations 2006 state that a slot coordinator can only be appointed with the approval of the Secretary of State, following consultation. The Secretary of State can withdraw that approval if he is satisfied that a coordinator has acted in a way that is not independent, neutral, non-discriminatory and transparent (regulation 4).

24/ A coordinator can, under certain circumstances, impose civil penalties on air carriers if an air carrier repeatedly and intentionally abuses slots allocated to it (regulation 16). Airlines can also be fined for failing to provide the coordinator with requested information (regulation 7). ACL has adopted a Misuse of Slots Enforcement Code for operating the slots sanctions scheme at the airports where they act as coordinator (regulation 18)^{[footnote 2]}.

25/ The coordinator is not liable to damages relating to the exercise of functions under the regulations, except in cases of gross negligence or wilful misconduct (regulation 12).

26/ The airport managing body is responsible for establishing and maintaining the coordination committee, and for determining the slot allocation parameters (regulations 5 and 6).

Costs and benefits of designation as coordinated

27/ There are several benefits and costs associated with the designation of Bristol Airport as a Coordinated airport arising from implementation of the arrangements [set out in paragraphs 18 and 19 above]. Benefits include a likely reduction in potential delays to airlines and passengers and more efficient management of the airports capacity. Lower levels of delay to aircraft may have environmental benefits to the extent that they reduce emissions.

28/ The main costs are likely to arise to the airport managing body and airlines from operating and participating in the coordination process, including the cost of the coordinator.

Consultation on the appointment of Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) as slot coordinator at Bristol Airport

29/ If the Secretary of State decides to designate Bristol Airport as fully “coordinated”, the EEC and UK regulations require the airport operator to appoint a coordinator. Under the UK regulations, the Secretary of State then must consider and approve (or not) that appointment, following consultation with airlines using the airport, their representative bodies, the airport operator and, where one exists, the coordination committee.

30/ As stated above, ACL is currently contracted to provide schedules facilitation and partial coordination services at Bristol Airport. The department understands that, subject to the Secretary of State’s approval, the airport proposes to appoint ACL as the coordinator.

31/ In deciding whether to approve ACL’s appointment, the Secretary of State must be satisfied that ACL can carry out its functions as coordinator in an independent, neutral, non-discriminatory and transparent way - see [the regulation, article 4 and the UK regulations at regulation 4.

32/ It should be emphasised that the fact that ACL is currently contracted to provide services at the airport does not mean that ACL should or must be approved as the coordinator for the purposes of the EEC and UK regulations. It is possible that other persons might have the qualifications, including technical facilities, required for appointment. However, no alternative candidates have been proposed by Bristol Airport’s operator.

33/ ACL is an independent Company incorporated in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee (registered number 02603583). ACL’s Memorandum and Articles of Association are available for inspection at Companies House. ACL have 6 UK airlines who each contribute towards its operation. The current members are:

• British Airways
• TUI Airways
• Virgin Atlantic Airways
• Jet2
• Flybe
• EasyJet

34/ Any airline with a UK AOC is eligible to become a member of ACL, and the company welcomes applications. ACL has been appointed as slot coordinator at the 8 UK airports currently designated as “coordinated” and at the 11 UK airports currently designated as “schedules facilitated”. Further details about ACL can be found on the company’s website.

How to respond to this consultation

The Department for Transport would welcome consultees’ views to inform the Secretary of State’s consideration of the capacity analysis; whether or not Bristol Airport should be designated as fully “coordinated”; and if so, whether to approve ACL as the coordinator for the airport.

A series of questions are set out in the separate consultation response form. Wherever possible please give reasons or provide evidence to support your answers. You would also be welcome to include further views if you wish.

The consultation period will end at 11.45pm on Friday 26 June 2020. Please email your consultation response by this date to:

SlotConsultation@dft.gov.uk

Please title your email “Bristol Airport slot coordination consultation”.

Alternatively, you can send your response by post to:

Josie Fieulleteau
Airports and Infrastructure Directorate
Department for Transport
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London SW1P 4DR

When responding please state whether you are doing so as an individual or representing the views of an organisation. If responding on behalf of a larger organisation please make it clear who the organisation represents, and where applicable, how the views of members were assembled.

Please could airline respondents indicate which other airports they operate services from.

A list of consultees is below. If you have any suggestions for other organisations which may wish to be involved in this process, please email your thoughts to the address above or by post.

Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004).

If you want information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory code of practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence.

In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the department.

The department will process your personal data in accordance with the DPA and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.

Next steps following the consultation

A summary of the consultation responses, including the next steps, will be published on the Department for Transport’s website.

Paper copies will be available on request.

The Department for Transport will undertake a detailed study of the consultation responses which, together with the capacity analysis, will inform the Secretary of State’s decisions on whether or not to designate Bristol Airport as fully “coordinated” and, if so, whether or not to approve the appointment of ACL as coordinator.

The Secretary of State proposes to publish his decision later this year, to be considered for the slot allocation process for the summer 2021 scheduling season.

If the Secretary of State’s decision is to designate Bristol Airport as fully “coordinated”, the coordination for the airport’s summer 2021 schedule will be carried out by the coordinator. The process for this is an issue for the airport operator, airlines and the coordinator to consider, and not part of this consultation.

Consultation on Bristol Airport’s application for slot coordination – List of consultees

Commercial airlines

• Air Malta
• Aurigny Air Services
• Austrian Airlines
• Balkan Holidays (BH Air)
• Blue Islands
• Brussels Airlines
• Cityjet
• Easyjet
• EnterAir
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Neos Spa
• Ryanair
• Stobart Air
• TUI
• Wizzair

Business / Private aviation

• Bristol & Wessex Flying Club
• Bristol Flying
• Centreline AV Ltd
• Profred Partners LLP
• Western Power Distribution (helicopters)

Ground-handler / Ground support

• Swissport

Aviation trade associations

• Airlines UK
• Airport Operators Association
• IATA

Other aviation

• Airport Coordination Ltd
• Civil Aviation Authority
• NATS

Other non-aviation

• North Somerset Council

Footnotes

1. Statutory Instrument 2006/2665, as amended ↩

2. regulation 18 paragraphs 1-8 ↩