UK airlines will be forced to ‘use or lose’ airport slots

UK airlines will be forced to “use or lose” their valuable take-off and landing slots this summer after the government announced “the return to business as usual” for aviation. Airlines such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will have to hand back their slots if they are not used 80% of the time over the summer season, which begins on March 26, the UK’s Department for Transport said on Tuesday. The government waived its “80/20” slot rules during the pandemic as border restrictions led to a collapse in the number of people flying. This allowed airlines to park their fleets and only run slimmed-down schedules while hanging on to spots at capacity-constrained airports. The waiver was also designed to stop airlines from running virtually empty with polluting “ghost flights” to maintain their slots, which can be worth millions of pounds. The rules were gradually restored as border restrictions eased, and over the winter airlines have had to use their slots 70% of the time. The decision to return to the pre-pandemic rules marked “a vote of confidence in the aviation industry” as demand for travel rebounds, the government said. It added that passenger numbers at UK airports had returned to 85% of normal levels by October. “We’re able to start a new, more optimistic, conversation about the future,” transport secretary Mark Harper said. The decision to waive the rules proved controversial, and some airlines and airports have long urged the government to bring competition for places at airports back more quickly. Rapidly expanding low-cost airlines such as Wizz Air complained that their ambitions to grow their UK businesses were being blocked by the waivers, as rival airlines were allowed to sit on their unused slots.<br/>