{"id":131505,"date":"2021-07-08T04:42:31","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T04:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=131505"},"modified":"2021-07-08T04:42:31","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T04:42:31","slug":"will-jet-airways-manage-to-get-enough-airport-slots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/business\/will-jet-airways-manage-to-get-enough-airport-slots\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Jet Airways manage to get enough airport slots?"},"content":{"rendered":"
As and when Jet Airways applies for slots, these would be allocated among all airlines according to guidelines, without any claim of historicity in favour of any airline.<\/strong><\/p>\n Slots would be given to Jet only from the available remaining pool.<\/strong><\/p>\n Aneesh Phadnis reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) cleared a plan to revive Jet Airways recently.<\/p>\n The Kalrock-Jalan consortium, whose proposal got the NCLT nod, hopes to restart Jet Airways as a full service airline with 25-30 aircraft.<\/p>\n The availability of key slots at airports will be crucial for the revival and is the consortium’s main demand.<\/p>\n Let’s find out how slots are assigned to an airline.<\/p>\n What is an airport slot and what determines its availability?<\/strong><\/p>\n A slot is a permission given by an airport to an airline to operate a flight at a specified date and time.<\/p>\n The number of flights an airport can handle depends on the availability of slots; and these are influenced by runway and terminal building capacity as also availability of parking bays.<\/p>\n The slots may not necessarily double on the addition of a second runway.<\/p>\n Airspace restrictions also influence them.<\/p>\n What are the rules for slot allotment?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Slot Allocation Guidelines of 2013 lay down the process.<\/p>\n These are modelled on the International Air Transport Association (IATA) worldwide slot guidelines.<\/p>\n Airports are classified into three levels based on the traffic load.<\/p>\n A slot coordinator is appointed at congested airports to allocate slots.<\/p>\n Generally, slot allotment takes place twice a year: for summer (March end-October) and winter (October end-March end).<\/p>\n Prior to each season, the Airport Authority of India and the airports declare the runway and terminal capacity to enable airlines to plan their schedules for the upcoming season.<\/p>\n Slots for domestic and international flights are filed separately by airlines 4-5 months before the start of the schedule.<\/p>\n A slot coordination committee with representatives of airlines, airports and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation meets before each season to approve the schedules.<\/p>\n How are slots allotted? What are historic slots?<\/strong><\/p>\n An airline files for slots of all the flights it intends to operate in a particular season.<\/p>\n An airline can retain a slot only if it uses it for 80 per cent of the time during a season.<\/p>\n The “use it or lose it” principle decides the historicity over slots.<\/p>\n If an airline has used a slot for 80 per cent of the time in the summer schedule, it gains historicity over it for the next summer schedule.<\/p>\n In view of the pandemic, regulators worldwide have suspended the “use it or lose it” principle.<\/p>\n For Jet Airways, the civil aviation ministry said it will not be entitled for historicity over its previously allotted slots.<\/p>\n NCLT, too, rejected the Kalrock-Jalan consortium’s demand for historicity over slots.<\/p>\n Are new airlines at a disadvantage in getting slots?<\/strong><\/p>\n A new airline can get only those slots that are available after allocation to all existing airlines and those surrendered by incumbents.<\/p>\n New airlines get a priority over 50 per cent of the remaining slots at an airport.<\/p>\n However, for each new entrant, priority is limited to a maximum of five daily slots at an airport.<\/p>\n This priority is available at the time of its first filing only.<\/p>\n In constrained airports like Mumbai or Delhi, there may be few spare slots.<\/p>\n Airports also prioritise slot allocation on the basis of new routes and year-round operations.<\/p>\n For instance, if an airline seeks to open a new route to a tier II\/III city or helps the airport to become a hub for connecting traffic, such slot requests could get a priority.<\/p>\n Priority could also be given to airlines seeking year-long operations over those seeking permission for a seasonal flight.<\/p>\n What details do airports seek from new airlines before allocating slots?<\/strong><\/p>\n A new airline will have to submit its fleet induction plan to major airports.<\/p>\n This would include both the number of aircraft it wishes to import and the delivery schedule.<\/p>\n An airline needs to have a valid air operator certificate or a permit before it is granted slots.<\/p>\n At airports with easy availability of slots and no capacity constraints, a new airline could secure provisional slots subject to receipt of an operations permit.<\/p>\n A new airline needs to fulfil a host of conditions including audits, documentation and staffing before it gets the operations permit.<\/p>\n The airline would need to secure a night parking bay at one of the airports in the country before it can import an aircraft and carry out proving (or test) flights before getting the permit.<\/p>\n Will it be difficult for Jet Airways to get slots?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Kalrock-Jalan consortium has received an assurance that it could get up to 170 slots at 30 airports in the country.<\/p>\n But the real challenge will be getting prime-time morning or evening slots at congested Delhi and Mumbai airports.<\/p>\n Delhi airport’s peak-hour capacity is expected to increase from 75 movements per hour to 100 by 2023, and it already has very few slots available.<\/p>\n Slots once used by Jet were redistributed among other airlines following its collapse.<\/p>\n In its affidavit before the NCLT, the DGCA said no airline can claim historicity over these slots.<\/p>\n It said as and when Jet Airways applies for slots, these would be allocated among all airlines according to guidelines, without any claim of historicity in favour of any airline.<\/p>\n A ministry official clarified that allotment will be done in a fair and transparent manner.<\/p>\n Sources at major airports said slots would be given to Jet Airways only from the available remaining pool.<\/p>\n