Kevin O'Toole/LONDON
A rare insight into the value of slots at London Heathrow has emerged from a line in the latest KLM accounts which gives details of a deal with British Airways that appears to put a price tag of up to $3 million on each landing and take-off position.
The figures come as BA awaits an imminent final ruling from the European Commission (EC) on the number of slots it will have to sacrifice as the price of approval for its alliance with American Airlines. That is understood to be about 300 slots a week, which would be worth more than $125 million at the market value set by the KLM report.
KLM includes DFl49 million ($25 million) in its 1997/8 accounts for gains on the sale of assets. An explanatory note says that this "-relates mainly" to the sale last year of slots by Air UK, now KLM uk, a fully owned subsidiary of the Dutch airline group.
KLM has not commented on the note, but it is understood to cover four daily round trips to Guernsey from Heathrow, the only services that Air UK flew from the airport and which were dropped with this summer's schedules. BA acquired the four round trips, representing eight daily slots, which were spread evenly through the day.
The reference in the accounts was identified by analysts at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. "This seems to set a price for slots at Heathrow," says lead aviation analyst Chris Tarry, adding that it highlights the need for "a proper slot transfer mechanism" that would give greater transparency for such a deal.
New rules on the issue have been pending from the EC transport commissioner for nearly two years, but have been delayed by apparent opposition from competition commissioner Karel Van Miert, who opposes slot trading.
Last month, the UK Civil Aviation Authority renewed its call for a system of secondary trading in slots, arguing that it was "essential" to keep the system as flexible and open as possible. The call came during the issue of its latest report on the impact of European deregulation, which highlighted worsening capacity constraints as the major obstacle to new competitors.
More than 70% of the busiest international routes within Europe have a "-seriously constrained" airport at one end, says the report. The CAA argues that an independent slot-trading exchange would help to keep the scarce resources in play and provide the transparency needed to police competition.
Despite EC promises of slot rules in the next few months, the CAAremains sceptical over the likely timetable.
Source: Flight International
