ACL issued Air China a Notice of Final Decision on 27 October 2020 for off slot operations at London Heathrow Airport during Summer 2020. Please see Sanction Details.
Country: UK
Winter Waiver Announcement
14/09/20ACL is encouraged to see the statement issued today by Commissioner Adina Valean on the EU Commission’s intention to extend the use-it or lose-it slot waiver for the whole of the Winter 2020 season (https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/air/news/2020-09-14-common-rules-allocation-slots-community-airports_en).
To allow airlines and airports to advance their planning, and for airlines to make available any excess airport capacity for others to use, ACL will now grant alleviation from non-use of slots to airlines at the 11 airports it coordinates across the European Union and the United Kingdom from 25th October 2020 to 27th March 2021. As required by the Commission in the statement by Commissioner Adina Valean, ACL will apply the industry agreed conditions (see more here) to the Winter waiver.
Our guidance gives full details which can be found here
Northern Winter 2020 – HBD Guidance for Airlines
26/08/20As Covid-19 continues to impact the aviation sector, there remains a great deal of uncertainty surrounding waivers from the utilisation target. This may lead to unintended consequences if returning slots without first considering if a waiver is in place. The following provides details of the current situation at ACL airports as at 26 August 2020.
Historic Baseline Date (HBD)
The HBD remains 31 August 2020 and ACL will create the results table which determines the utilisation target for each slot during NW20 on or shortly after that date.
Waivers as at 26 August 2020
Waivers are currently in place for ACL airports in New Zealand and Dubai covering the entire NW20 season. Alleviation will be granted subject to certain conditions which are detailed here. This document will be amended as information changes.
A waiver is not currently in place for any of ACL EU & UK airports so cancellations made will be treated as per the EU Slot Regulation as would be the case in any other season. Carriers are encouraged to consider the below information when determining when to make cancellations at these airports.
Cancellation before the HBD
Carriers wishing to benefit from the 20% cancellation allowed before the HBD should continue to make these changes as normal. The cancellations will be included in the calculation of the utilisation targets. Details of how ACL determine historics can be found at the following links:
Other (Northern Hemisphere) ACL Airports
Additional Information for Dubai International Airport
Cancellations more than the permitted 20% may result in the returned slots being made available to other carriers which may impact on your ability to retain the historic. For examples full season cancellations made at this time will be returned to the slot pool and reallocated.
Cancellation after the HBD
Airports with a waiver (New Zealand & Dubai)
At airports where a waiver is in place, alleviation will be granted to cancellations made after HBD subject to any conditions in place. Cancellations meeting the conditions will be counted as operated against the utilisation target.
Airports without a waiver (ACL EU & UK Airports)
Any cancellation made after the HBD but prior to a waiver being issued may not count towards the utilisation target and may impact on your ability to retain the historic slot. For example, a full season slot returned after the HBD but before any alleviation has been granted will be returned to the slot pool and reallocated.
Carriers will need to make their own assessment on the timing and likelihood of a waiver and determine their hand back strategy accordingly.
If alleviation is granted, cancellations made after the waiver announcement will be treated as operated subject to any conditions in place.
Newly Allocated Slots
ACL issues all newly allocated slots on a non-historic basis. ACL will consider newly allocated slots should they operate in line with 8.7.1(d) of the WASG. ACL has prepared Guidance on how newly allocated slots will be treated which can be found here.
Carriers not intending to operate newly allocated slots are requested to return these as soon as possible.
How to coordinate an airport from your daughter’s bedroom
01/06/20Our experienced coordination manager, Pete Robinson, recalls his working from home journey and how he has coordinated some of the worlds busiest airports from his daughters bedroom.
Shortly before the UK went into official lockdown, I spent a day in mid-March touring London’s airports. Aviation was just beginning to slow down, and I was conscious of the noticeable reduction in movements and the presence of stationary aircraft at Stansted, Luton, Heathrow and Gatwick.
On the second day of the lockdown I celebrated 15 years at Airport Coordination Limited (ACL). During those years I have experienced closures and disruption of all kinds from severe weather, natural disasters, terrorism, conflicts and the grounding of aircraft fleets. Even the week-long closure of European airspace due to an Icelandic volcano in 2010 pales into insignificance next to the impact of Covid-19 on the worldwide aviation industry.
The first week of working from home was strange. I usually spend two and a half hours a day on my M25 commute and contrary to most, I was strangely experiencing withdrawal symptoms. I had to accept, with the schools closed, and my partner also working from home, finding a quiet place to work was going to be difficult. Luckily, only a few months earlier, we had bought each of our girls’ desks for their bedrooms and so, kicking my 5-year-old out, I began coordinating slots from my daughter’s bedroom, with her surrounding toys for company.
So how do you coordinate some of the worlds most complex airports when your whole team is working from home? Less than 12 months earlier, ACL had invested in Microsoft Teams and trained all our staff in its use. Whilst its need had been limited before, this investment truly paid off. Video calls, screen and document sharing are the new norm across ACL. Guests from outside our organisation can easily join video calls and it has allowed us to provide the same level of communication with our customers in other remote locations. Each week ACL’s CEO, Edmond Rose, hosts a Q&A session and updates us on company affairs, and colleagues take it in turns to host regular afterwork quizzes, helping to maintain social contact with the wider ACL team.
During lockdown, I begin each morning running reports for the four international airports I manage. This helps me understand the schedule movements from the last 24 hours. I monitor travel restrictions, UK Foreign and Commonwealth travel advice and the international press for any significant developments. I then correlate these against the schedule changes we have received from airlines. This information is then fed to the rest of my team via my daily Teams update. Communication with colleagues has certainly changed, but video calls have allowed us to continue enjoying face-to-face interaction. I have a daily call with my Head of Coordination and then a further call between myself and my own team. These calls are crucial for relaying updates and activity across ACL and are an opportunity to agree any actions for the coming days.
My usual morning tea break with colleagues has now been replaced with a short stroll around my garden and tending to my plants. Some great weather and the additional time at home has left my garden looking in fine shape. What started as a home-schooling project, growing some vegetable seeds with my daughters, has developed into a gardening obsession, and I have proudly been sharing updates with my colleagues on my horticulture successes.
The evolution of my horticultural obsession.
A further highlight has been the successful roll-out of virtual coordinator training. My initial nerves over conducting training online have not been met and Teams has allowed me to share my screen with multiple users demonstrating tasks, encouraging discussions, and continuing the high level of training we provide to our coordinators.
After two months of daily cancellation activity across ACL’s airport portfolio, we are beginning to see signs of easing across Europe and there are indications that planes may return to the skies. One thing is for sure, the Summer 20 season will look very different from how it was first coordinated. The industry continues to consider how social distancing can be enacted and without concreate plans or guidance, it remains difficult to predict how demand and capacity will look in the coming twelve months.
So, as many of us adapt to the new normal, I have found myself a more suitable home and am coordinating from our spare bedroom, which I have temporarily converted to a home office. Working from home is staying a little while longer, but ACL will continue to provide our expert coordination services from whatever locations our staff find themselves, and we will continue to be both proactive and reactive to the challenges ahead.
By Pete Robinson
‘ACL – A Retrospective’, by former Chairman, Jeff Halliwell
24/04/20Former Chairman, Jeff Halliwell, looks back on his time as Chair of ACL’s Board.
When the unfortunate departure of Monarch Airlines pulled Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) into the newspaper headlines in Autumn 2017, I was on a remote boat trip with my wife and largely uncontactable. To the puzzlement of some of my fellow passengers, I spent hours on deck searching for an internet connection so I could support management with the situation. The question arose whether Monarch’s administrators were entitled to the airlines previously held slots an issue without legal precedent. ACL’s eventual ruling was upheld in the High Court, but overturned on appeal; establishing a legal precedent which has been helpful since. While the legal judgement ultimately went against ACL, it was generally recognised that ACL had carried out its remit of acting in an independent and objective manner, in a complex case, something which I am proud of.
It was nevertheless a very enjoyable boat trip!
I joined ACL as its first independent Chair in 2013. Since ACL is required under EU slots regulations to act in an independent manner, it was deemed that the new Chair should be demonstrably independent of any aviation interest. As a former CEO of major food businesses, I met that requirement. Of course, along with lack of aviation background, came a total lack of knowledge about aviation in general, and slots in particular! However, people were very patient and put up with my idiotic questions. I’ve also been conscious that “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” and have hopefully been able to distinguish between executive and non-executive matters, and not to interfere in the former; a task made easier thanks to the help of our very able ACL senior execs.
ACL performs its duties both very effectively, and cost-efficiently. This has enabled it to grow to become the world’s leading independent slot coordinator. Since 2012 turnover has increased by over 50%, and the number of airports coordinated outside the UK has more than doubled. And as well as helping improving capacity utilisation at some of the world’s largest and most constrained airports, ACL has facilitated the smooth operation of a number of major international events and has successfully supported some major airport reconfigurations.
By 2015, this growth exposed a clear need for focus on ACL’s international business and so ACL International Ltd was formed, a wholly owned subsidiary of ACL. This provided opportunity for a number of governance improvements and also encouraged the appointment of further directors who, like me, were free of prior aviation interests and could add to ACL’s already impressive breadth of board experience.
My job as Chair has been made immeasurably easier by the excellence of the executive teams I have worked with. Under its current CEO, Edmond Rose, ACL is well positioned to support the future of a sector which is currently in the middle of unprecedented challenges. When the world emerges from Covid-19, the industry will look very different, in ways which are today impossible to predict. However, airport slot coordination will continue to be a vital part of the efficient operation of aviation, and ACL has the ability, experience, and expertise to fully support that re-establishment.
When I started my term of office as Chair, I had no idea how enjoyable the next years would be. As ever, it’s the people you work with who make any role memorable, and I’ve been extremely lucky in working with, and learning from, some great colleagues. Now I’ve completed my lap, it’s time to hand the baton on to my very able successor, Lesley Cowley, a highly respected businesswoman who brings superb Chair and Non-Executive Director experience. I’ve no doubt that under her stewardship, ACL will reach even greater heights and make an even stronger contribution to international aviation.
It’s been a great personal and professional pleasure.
by Jeff Halliwell
Ethiopian Airlines Sanction March 2020
31/03/20ACL issued Ethiopian Airlines a Notice of Final Decision on 25 March 2020 in relation to its failure to respond to a request for information on the misuse of slots at London Heathrow airport during Summer 2019. Please see sanction details.
ACL TO GRANT ALLEVIATION FROM USE-IT-OR-LOSE-IT RULE, SUMMER 2020
27/03/20ACL acknowledges that the European institutions have decided to extend the temporary waiver from non-use of slots proposed by the European Commission so that it covers the full Summer 2020 season.
ACL will grant alleviation from non-use of slots to airlines at the 11 airports it coordinates across the European Union and the United Kingdom from 1 March 2020 to 24 October 2020; and alleviation from non-use of slots for flights to and from mainland China and Hong Kong for the period from 23 January 2020 to 29 February 2020.
Airlines are required to hand back slots that they seek to claim alleviation for at the earliest opportunity. Slots that are held and are not subsequently operated will not be granted alleviation as other carriers will have been denied the opportunity to use the available capacity.
27 March 2020
London City announces temporary suspension of flights.
26/03/20London City Airport temporarily suspends commercial and private flights . London City Airport have provided ACL with the following statement;
Following the Government’s latest instructions in response to the Coronavirus outbreak, we have made the decision to temporarily suspend all commercial and private flights from the airport.
This will begin in the evening on Wednesday 25 March and is expected to last until the end of April. We will keep this under review.
At this point in this fast-moving and unprecedented situation, we think this is the responsible thing to do for the safety and wellbeing of our staff, passengers and everyone associated with the airport.
During this period, we will continue to follow official guidance and work with the authorities to understand the situation and how best to respond.
We will keep you up to date with relevant information and news, as and when we have it.
The full London City Airport statement can be found here
Important Coronavirus update- ACL’s full service continues
26/03/20During the current Covid-19 outbreak, ACL is pleased to maintain its full service to customers, continuing to support the aviation industry through the current crisis. In March, we’ve handled more than double the usual number of schedule messages, as well as providing many bespoke reports for airports, support for airport planning and extra reports for data customers.
ACL’s staff will continue to be available during normal working hours for all our offices, whether in New Zealand, the UAE or the UK. We continue to follow official government advice in each country we operate by limiting contact and working from home.
ACL, NATS and the IRG: Preparing for a challenging summer
05/03/20As UK and European Airspace become more congested and airports look to squeeze maximum opportunity from their runway, we look at how NATS and ACL are working together through the Industry Resilience Group to better plan for the summer.
Aircraft cannot simply fly in straight lines between two points. The skies above our heads are made up of a mix of controlled, uncontrolled and military airspace. Almost all commercial airliners fly through controlled airspace where Air Traffic Control monitor and control which direction, how fast and at what altitude each flight can fly to keep passengers safe.
The controlled airspace above the United Kingdom is a set of pre-designated corridors that aircraft must follow. It was originally designed in the 1960s and in the main has remain unchanged for 50 years. As the demand for air travel has drastically increased since the 1960s, certain parts of the airspace network above the UK have come under significant pressure and it is at these airspace “hotspots” that the flow of air traffic may have to be regulated by Air Traffic Control leading to delays in flights planning to fly through regulated sectors.
For the Summer 2018 season the Voluntary Industry Resilience Group (VIRG) embarked upon trying to understand from ACL how the Coordination cycle works and if any useful information could be extracted from ACL’s schedules to highlight potential air traffic hotspots in advance. ACL and NATS worked together to create some basic high-level illustrations to show the changes in demand for the main directional flows in and out of the UK airspace versus the previous Summer.
Planning for Summer 2019
ACL’s role in the Summer 2019 process was far more involved, providing detailed schedule data for 26 UK & Republic of Ireland (ROI) airports to be combined with NATS capability at key points in the run up to the start of the season. ACL’s experience provided industry context and understanding to the data, a result of their unique proposition and close relationships with airlines and airports.
Each ACL review was made up of thousands of data entries providing information on the number of flights operating between airports. This, in combination with NATS’ own data allows airspace ‘hot spots’ to be identified ahead of time. Further analysis by week, weekday and time provide extended dimensions to the analysis, allowing NATS and the industry to understand the impact of the new schedule for the upcoming season and plan for expected congestion.
Delivering meaningful output for the industry
The outputs provided for Summer 2019 were significant in allowing the industry to better prepare for a busy summer season. The data showed a 0.4% growth against the previous summer, amounting to an increase of over 6,000 movements. Growth was strongest in the Republic of Ireland (+3.6%), with movements at London airports also higher than the previous summer (+0.5%).
Significantly for NATS, there was strong South-East axis growth (+5.7%) which indicated further congestion expected in an already busy airspace. There was however a decline in traffic on the East axis; knowledge of these trends allowed NATS and the industry to prepare for the specific airspace challenges ahead.
ATC Routing traffic forecast for Summer 2019 as of February 20, 2019.
For Summer 2020, ACL developed its contribution further, providing additional analysis alongside the data and utilising Power BI to make process more efficient, easily understood and dynamic.
Initial Summer 2020 analysis taken at the end of November showed movement growth of 0.7%. Expected growth for 2020 was driven primarily by the rise in scheduled flights with a South-East routing which increased by over 23,000 movements. Growth on the South-East axis has been a historic issue, and so advance warning for the upcoming summer allows the industry to react to the demand.
The picture has changed significantly at the second data iteration. Data updates now show a movement decline of -1.1% against the previous summer, demonstrating how regular provision of schedule data is essential due to the volatility of schedule changes that can occur.
ATC Routing traffic forecast for Summer 2020 as of February 3, 2020.
Growth on the South-East axis has now decreased to only +2.5%, with more significant growth on the NE axis (+4.2%). In addition to observing overall movements and axis growth, ACL provide information at a regional and airport level. This analysis shows decline in movements in all major UK and Ireland regions, except for growth in Scotland (3.9%). An area of specific airspace interest is London airports, which currently show an overall decline in movements of -0.2% versus last summer.
Changes between data updates underline the significance of schedule movements between initial allocation and the start of the season. As such, the ability to provide iterative updates using dynamic Power BI reporting allows NATS to have better visibility of schedule changes and to observe how trends are developing ahead of the start of the season.
A developing collaboration
Analysis of forecasting accuracy for Summer 2019 indicated that the quality of predictions improved as ACL provided later data iterations, showing the importance of the continued information provided up to the start of the season.
NATS were able to utilise a far more accurate data picture as a result of the final data iteration. Looking forward to Summer 2020, it was agreed that due to the increasing accuracy of later iterations, NATS and ACL would focus on high-level trends at the first iteration, building into a more detailed picture following slot return deadlines prior to the season starting.
Several further data iterations and trend updates will be provided to NATS and the IRG up to and including the start of the summer season, with the intention of allowing the industry to continue to improve its resilience against schedule changes and airspace congestion by utilising ACL’s unique resources.
Looking ahead
As ACL and NATS continue to collaborate through the sponsorship of the IRG the level of detail and insight is increasing with each iteration. The ultimate aim is to have a level of dynamic updates which will give the industry time to plan ahead to minimise the impact of congestion, leading to better operational performance and an improved customer experience for all those using the airspace.