Airlines cancelling flights at Sydney airport could lose takeoff and landing slots in crackdown

Airlines will face penalties if they decide to cancel flights at Sydney airport without valid reasons, and could lose their takeoff and landing slots, as the government aims to helping smaller airlines better compete out of Australia’s largest airport. The federal transport minister, Catherine King, on Wednesday revealed proposed changes to the legislation governing Sydney airport, responding to concerns about alleged misuse of airport’s highly valued takeoff and landing slots. Sydney airport is restricted to 80 takeoffs and landings per hour and an overnight curfew exists to minimise noise for residents under the flight paths. The government will crack down on airlines strategically cancelling their flights – but hanging on to valuable slots – by significantly increasing transparency about how slots are allocated and force carriers into providing reasons for cancellations or major delays, with data published regularly. Independent audits of slot usage will “detect and crack down on anti-competitive behaviour”, which will give travellers information about the most reliable airlines but will also allow authorities to take action. The first audit will occur this year. “To ensure slots are not misused, the government will modernise the compliance regime to include penalties that address anti‑competitive behaviours, along with updated and strengthened enforcement tools for the government to watch airlines more closely and take effective legal action where necessary,” King said.<br/>