BUSINESS NEWS


Slot waiver rules tightened to 70% usage for summer


Ian Taylor


The government has extended a Covid-era waiver of slot rules at major airports through this summer but increased the proportion of slots airlines must use in line with the expected recovery in air travel. Carriers will be required to use


70% of take-off and landing slots at the UK’s biggest airports in a significant change from the 50% requirement this winter, though not yet a return to the 80% use-it-or-lose- it slot rules pre-Covid. However, the government has


included a provision that airlines won’t have to operate flights in line with this requirement where there are Covid restrictions at either end of a route. This could include “if a country requires hotel quarantine or closes hotels or restaurants as a result of Covid”. The rules apply at Heathrow,


Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Manchester and Birmingham. The UK slot rules for the summer


will differ slightly from those in the EU, which recently confirmed it would require 64% of slots are used. Normal slot rules were waived


Qatar Airways and Airbus in dispute over ‘safety’ issue


Qatar Airways is involved in an escalating dispute with Airbus, with the carrier pursuing legal action against the manufacturer in the High Court in London and Airbus


travelweekly.co.uk A Qatar Airways A350


cancelling a $6 billion Qatar order for 50 A321neo aircraft last week. The airline has grounded 21


from March 2020 due to Covid-19, with the waiver extended through last winter. The UK maintained a full waiver through summer 2021, when the EU reverted to a 50% slot-use requirement, before aligning with the EU at 50% for the current winter. Airlines’ summer schedules begin


from late March and run through to late October. The change will be welcomed


by airports. But Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr hit out at the current 50% slot rule this month, saying it forced the carrier to operate 18,000 unnecessary flights this winter – referred to as ‘ghost flights’. However, the UK Department


for Transport said in a statement: “Airlines will not have to operate


Airlines must use 70% of their slots from late March


‘ghost flights’ to retain their slots where markets are substantively closed. Airlines will need to use their slots 70% of the time . . . but will benefit from added flexibility over when they are justified not to use them. “The list of situations where


airlines can claim justification for not using slots is being widened. As in this winter, this will cover situations where Covid-19 related restrictions at either end of a route result in severe reduction in demand. However, for summer 2022 it will no longer be necessary for the airline to show the measures were unforeseeable. For example, airlines would be able to apply for this measure if a country requires hotel quarantine or closes hotels or restaurants due to Covid.”


US carriers praise delay to launch of 5G near airports


US airline chiefs hailed the intervention of the White House in preventing “severe disruption” to US air travel last week after telecoms giants AT&T and Verizon postponed switching on 5G mobile networks near major airports. United Airlines chief Scott Kirby


said: “I want to thank the White House . . . and the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon.” However, this did not prevent


carriers outside the US cancelling flights due to concerns at the plan to deploy 5G from January 19. Emirates president Tim Clark described the last-minute reaction to safety concerns as “delinquent, utterly irresponsible”. The issue may also return. The


telecoms operators noted they had voluntarily agreed to “temporarily defer turning on” 5G-enabled towers around major airports after already delaying the rollout twice. Iata warned that 5G operations


in the C-band radio frequency deployed in the US could interfere with radio altimeters – “a critical aircraft safety system”. 5G has been rolled out in 40


countries without the problems identified in the US. The CAA does not foresee a safety issue in the UK.


of its 53 A350s, complaining of cracking and peeling on the surface of the aircraft and saying it has “serious safety concerns”. It is seeking more than $600 million in compensation for the “accelerated surface degradation” through a legal claim launched in December and scheduled to be heard in April. However, Airbus has argued


there is “no reasonable basis” for the claim, suggesting the aircraft


were grounded due to Covid-19. Qatar has called for “a thorough


investigation . . . to establish whether any proposed repair solution will rectify the underlying condition and ensure no risk to the continued airworthiness of the aircraft”. Airbus insists the surface


degradation is not structural. Other airlines operating A350s


have identified similar problems without grounding aircraft.


27 JANUARY 2022 55


PICTURES: Shutterstock/DigitalPen, Balate Dorin


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