Rules waived during the pandemic will return for start of summer season.
The relaxation of rules regarding take-off and landing allocations during COVID will soon be no more, with UK airlines told in no uncertain terms ‘use them or lose them’.
The rules returning in the summer will demand that if the allocations are not used 80 per cent of the time then they must be handed back, the British government insisting that it’s a return to “business as usual” for aviation.
The government removed the rules during the pandemic as airline travel collapsed, but when the new summer season officially commences on March 26 they will return, with passenger numbers at UK airports running at 85 per cent of normal levels by October 2022.
Low-cost airlines will welcome the move believing that some of the bigger names were sitting on unused slots, with Europe’s busiest airport, Heathrow, very much in favour of the change.
“The proposal ensures a level of certainty and recovery for the sector as we plan for summer 2023, but also provides some flexibility which is needed for markets where challenges persist from Covid-19,” a spokesman for the airport said.
The rule change includes a condition allowing airlines to hand back up to five per cent of their slots before March 26.
