News Category: Coordination

Manchester Airport Temporary Movement Limit

27/06/22

Please see the below note from Manchester Airport regarding a temporary movement limit for S22.

Following the DfT’s decision on 21st June to implement slot alleviation measures for the remainder of the Summer 2022 season, we (Manchester Airport) have been giving urgent consideration to the need for additional measures to control the reallocation of slots that are handed-back as part of this process.

The purpose of this email is to inform you that, effective from 25th June, Manchester Airport will be implementing temporary movement limits to prevent the reallocation of slots that are released back to ACL. The commencement of the temporary limits aligns with the start of the DfT’s 14-day slot hand-back window from 25th June to 8th July. The goal of this temporary limit is to support the use of the DfT slot handback process to depressure current airport operations, and to minimise any further changes to operational planning during this volatile period

For the rest of the season, or until this limit is reviewed, new slot requests will be tested against an all-day total movement limit of 475atms/day. This movement rate is equivalent to the number of daily movements currently operating a Manchester (w/c 20th June). For purposes of clarity, all slots already allocated above this limit will be honoured, and this movement limit does not apply to GA, freight or positioning movements.

To be clear, the temporary limits will still enable airlines to operate slots that have already been allocated for the summer season. However, it will not be possible for ACL to reallocate slots that are handed-back, or any new slots, above this temporary limit for as long as it remains in place.

We propose to review this temporary limit following the closure of the hand-back window on 8th July, taking account of airline’s responses to the DfT’s slot alleviation measures.

We will also continue to review the need for further measures, including a local rule to reduce overall capacity levels, over the coming weeks based on discussions with airlines and ground handlers through the Airport Partner Working Group (MAN-APWG).

I hope you will appreciate the need to introduce these measures at short notice given the announcement from the DfT earlier this week. Please contact Andy Clark (andy.clark@acl-uk.org) if you have any questions.

S22 additional alleviation UK Statutory Instrument June 2022

21/06/22

Today (21 June), the UK Government laid a Statutory Instrument (SI) granting additional alleviation from normal slots rules for the remainder of the Summer 2022 season.  This is in addition to the Covid alleviation granted on 22 March 2022 and aims to help carriers improve resilience in the system for the summer peak (in light of recent disruption at UK airports due to staff shortages).

Under the new SI, carriers have a window (from 25 June until 8 July 2022) in which they can hand back up to 30% of slots held at a particular airport for the remainder of the S22 season (i.e. the period from 9 July 2022 until 29 October).  Carriers will get alleviation for those slots handed back by the 8 July deadline if they have meet the criteria as set out in the SI. This measure only applies to slots with a date of 9 July onwards but the handback must also take place at least 14 days in advance of the date of the slots (so for example, on 25 June an airline would be able to return slots with a date of 9 July or later, whereas on 8 July it would only be able to return slots with a date of 22 July or later). ACL will issue further guidance in due course.

W22 SAL distribution

10/06/22

UPDATE 16th June:
All W22 SAL’s have now been issued, including Heathrow which was sent on 16 June 2022.

 

All W22 SAL’s with the exception of London Heathrow have been issued. Due to a legal challenge involving slots at London Heathrow, we have had to delay the issuance of all SALs at London Heathrow pending legal advice. We will provide a further update no later than Friday 17th June, if the SAL’s have not been distributed by then.

For all our other airports please contact the coordinator if you have not received the message for a particular airport.

 

MATARAT Holding signs with Airport Coordination Limited

06/06/22

6th June 2022

ACL International has signed an agreement with MATARAT Holding to carry out slot coordination, slot facilitation and data collection services at 26 airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Airport Coordination Limited International (ACLi) is delighted to announce that it will be providing slot coordination, slot facilitation and data collection services at 26 airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ACL won the contract with MATARAT Holdings through a competitive tender and begun work on the 12th May 2022.

The Kingdom has 28 airports today, serving around 100 million passengers per year (2019), and Vision 2030, National Transport & Logistics strategy and Aviation Sector Strategy aims to boost this number by 2030 to 330 million passengers per year. This means major infrastructure development and building long-term resilience in MATARAT’s aero-network performance.

The contract with MATARAT Holdings is the latest addition to ACL’s activity in the Gulf region. ACL also provide coordination services to Oman Airports, Abu Dhabi International Airport, Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport. ACLi is excited to be working with MATARAT Holding, the airports, and their partners to bring our renowned coordination services and expertise into this new and important market.

Neil Garwood, CEO of Airport Coordination Limited said,

“ACL has a long track record of bringing independent expertise to the world’s airports, and we are delighted to now be supporting 26 airports across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as it seeks to transform its aviation sector under the Vision 2030 strategy. We look forward to building successful partnerships with MATARAT Holding, all the airports, and their partners as we bring the services of the world’s leading and largest airport coordinator into the Kingdom for the first time.”

Mohammed Almowkley, CEO of MATARAT Holdings said,

“MATARAT Holding aspires to transform and promote Saudi airports into thriving economic gateways by leading the privatization and transformation efforts to enable a sustainable sector, our partnership with ACL will enable us to optimize Airports capacity so that as many airline requests as possible can be accommodated, maximizing the utilization of airport assets, and delivering value for the passengers.”

About Airport Coordination Ltd
ACL is the world’s first independent airport slot coordinator. We are headquartered in Staines, Middlesex, near London Heathrow Airport. The agreement with MATARAT Holding means ACL now provide world-leading coordination, facilitation, and data collection services at 72 airports across four continents from its offices in the UK, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia is the third Middle-Eastern country to be supported by ACL, enhancing ACL’s global position as the world’s leading and largest independent coordinator.

For more information visit www.acl-uk.org

Media Contact
Denise Wakeford, Airport Coordination Limited
Tel: 020 8564 0606
Email: denise.wakeford@acl-international.com

 

Press Release: Russia Sanctions

19/05/22

UK Government has today announced that it has designated Aeroflot, Rossiya and Ural airlines under the UK’s Russia Sanctions Regime.  This means that ACL cannot allocate slots to any of those carriers for the upcoming IATA Winter 2022 season nor can we grant alleviation for cancellations made by those carriers in the current Summer 2022 season as a result of the current flight bans.  This also prevents any transfer or exchange of any slots held by these carriers.  Slots over which Aeroflot, Rossiya and Ural currently hold historic rights for the Winter 2022 season at UK coordinated airports will be returned to the slot pool for re-allocation to other carriers.   ACL will issue further guidance shortly.

Dublin Airport renews with Airport Coordination Limited

11/05/22

ACL enter third decade providing coordination services at Dublin Airport after competitive tender process.

Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) is delighted to announce that it will continue providing coordination services at Dublin Airport, Ireland. In a competitive process run by the Commission for Aviation Regulation, ACL was selected as Dublin Airport’s independent airport slot coordinator, marking the third decade of this relationship. ACL’s new, three-year contract with Dublin Airport will run from October 2022 and will support the airport’s growth following the opening of their new runway.

Dublin Airport welcomed a record 32.9 million passengers in 2019 and is Ireland’s main aviation gateway. It has an extensive and growing list of short-haul and long-haul destinations with a choice of over 180 destinations served by 44 different airlines.

In the past decade the airport has been preparing their new runway which is scheduled to open at the end of Summer 2022. ACL are looking forward to the challenge of helping the airport during this exciting time of expansion and their continued growth.

Airport Coordination Limited’s CEO, Neil Garwood, said ‘We are delighted to continue ACL’s long-running relationship with Dublin Airport. This new contract recognises the strength of the partnership we have built together over the last 20 years and is a clear sign of ACL’s commitment to achieving the best solutions for our airport and airline partners. We look forward to supporting Dublin Airport for many years to come.’

About Airport Coordination Ltd

ACL is the world’s first independent airport slot coordinator. It is headquartered in Staines, Middlesex, near London Heathrow Airport. ACL provides world-leading coordination, facilitation, and data collection services at 72 airports across four continents from its offices in the UK, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. Coordination at Dublin Airport is one of two Irish airports supported by ACL, enhancing ACL’s global position as the world’s leading and largest independent coordinator.

Media Contact
Denise Wakeford, Airport Coordination Limited
Tel: 020 8564 0606
Email: denise.wakeford@acl-international.com

 

ACL International signs an agreement with MATARAT Holding to carry out coordination services at Saudi Arabian airports

10/05/22

ACL International (ACLi) has signed an agreement with MATARAT Holding to carry out slot coordination, slot facilitation and data collection services at 26 airports in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

As part of the transition from the current provider, ACLi will be publishing information on its website to support airport users. We look forward to providing more detail on this new agreement over the coming weeks. ACLi is excited to be working with MATARAT Holding, the airports, and their partners to bring our renowned coordination services and expertise into this new and important market.

About Airport Coordination Ltd
ACL is the world’s first independent airport slot coordinator. We are headquartered in Staines, Middlesex, near London Heathrow Airport. The agreement with MATARAT Holding means ACL now provide world-leading coordination, facilitation, and data collection services at 72 airports across four continents from its offices in the UK, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia is the third Middle-Eastern country  to be supported by ACL, enhancing ACL’s global position as the world’s leading and largest independent coordinator.

Media Contact
Denise Wakeford, Airport Coordination Limited
Tel: 020 8564 0606
Email: denise.wakeford@acl-international.com

 

 

W22 SHLs Distributed

25/04/22

All W22 SHLs for ACL airports have now been distributed. Please contact the coordinator if you have not received the message for a particular airport.

A Shaky Summer

20/04/22

Airport Capacity Analyst, Christakis Christodoulou, explores how the current Summer 2022 season compares with Summer 2019’s pre-pandemic schedule and what this says about schedule volatility and aviation’s hopes of recovery.

In January this year the UK government announced an amendment to the UK slot rules. The change marked a divergence from the widespread alleviation which had become common place during the pandemic and is a step closer to the familiar 80/20 rule which was in place before March 2020. The rule requires all airlines operating at UK Level 3 coordinated airports to operate 70% of their slot series in Summer 2022 (S22) to claim their historic slots for the following 2023 Summer season.

Despite optimism in the demand for travel, the impact of staff shortages, covid case numbers and ongoing travel restrictions, means there is still uncertainty in the aviation market. This is evident in airlines latest slot holdings and the comparisons with Summer 2019 (S19).

When compared with S19, the start of the S22 season has seen a reduction of 4.58% in scheduled movements across all UK, Level 3 airports. The lowering in demand is driven by a 13% reduction in April as airlines shortened their historic season or returned slots in response to the 70/30 utilisation requirement. As the season progresses the average reduction between start of season 2019 and 2022 is 6.35%. It remains to be seen if carriers will make further reductions as the date of operation approaches.

Figure 1 – Line chart shows the number of scheduled movements by IATA week number and season snapshot across all UK level 3 airports.

At an airport level, the start of the season comparison shows three out of eight UK Level 3 airports are reporting marginal growth. As a London system, overall movements have declined in S22 compared to S19 with a reduction of over sixteen thousand movements (2.18%) compared to pre-pandemic levels

Figure 2 – Bar chart shows the number of scheduled movements by airport at the start of the Summer 2019 and 2022 seasons.
Figure 3 – Tables shows the difference in scheduled movements by airport between the start of the summer 2019 and summer 2022 seasons.

This growth is already a reduction on information captured at initial coordination in November 21, where seven out of eight Level 3 airports showed growth compared to the demand observed at initial coordination for S19.

Figure 4 – Bar chart shows the percentage difference in demand at initial coordination by airport at the start of the Summer 2022 season against the Summer 2019 season.

Similarly, five of the top ten most served routes by movements across all Level 3 airports showed growth in November 21 when compared to pre-pandemic levels. Four months later, at the start of the season, eight of the ten routes have seen a decline.

Figures 5 and 6 – Tables showing the top 10 most scheduled routes after S22 initial coordination and start of season respectively.

It is difficult to predict whether any remaining growth will continue during the season. The last two years have demonstrated short-notice changes in restrictions can disrupt planned operations. Whist such issues may be less prevalent, they have been replaced with other operational challenges. Shortages of resources and high levels of covid infections have led to disruption, cancellations, and volatility in airline schedules and airport demand.

While travel remains high on peoples wishlists; the demand for travel appears to be recovering quicker than supply can be delivered. At this stage of the coordination cycle the number of movements are 4.58% below the same snapshot in S19. Whilst we expect this to increase as the seasons progresses, the foundations are still there for growth.

If you would like to view more of our insights and compare how the start of S22 compares with the previous year, please view our start of season reports which can be found here. For more bespoke reporting, or access to ACL’s airport schedules please contact – denise.wakeford@acl-international.com

By Christakis Christodoulou, Airport Capacity Analyst