28 December 2007

Who was naughty at UK Airports? Slot Abuse!

You just have to love the Internet... there is so much fun filled facts available.

From Airport Coordination Ltd (ACL) who run the slot committee at LHR and other BAA managed airports - they have complied with UK and EU law regarding he abuse of slot times.

5 Airlines ran afoul of the regulations. Surprisingly Easyjet and Ryanair were slapped with the initial largest fine GBP 20K each for transgressions at LGW and Stansted respectively in a very short period of time - 3 weeks in 2007. Smaller airlines ThomsonFly (now TUIFly), Flybe and Thomas Cook Airlines (soon to be Air Berlin) were each hit with a GBP 1,000 fine for transgressions at different airports.

The latest fine was for October 2007 so we can assume that there will be more next quarter.

There should be some consideration for the fact that the two LCCs are the largest players at their respective airports - but the fines will definitely make people sit up and pay attention. It would be interesting to see if the USA applied this rule especially at JFK and other slot restricted airports.

I can just hear Michael O'Leary getting a copy of his fine. I bet he wont be quite so naughty next time.

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