Study into tackling congestion at primary airports warns peripheral routes may suffer
Europe's move to increase airport capacity through a slot-trading revamp could force a substantial increase in state-supported routes to ensure that far-flung regions continue to receive services.
A European Commission study into how secondary slot trading by airlines might increase efficiency at increasingly congested EU airports has been conducted by aviation consultancy Mott MacDonald. It points to a potential proliferation of publicly funded air services, termed public service obligations (PSO).
"Routes to peripheral regional airports and to the more peripheral member states may be forced out of the congested primary airports to less convenient secondary airports, unless they are protected by PSOs being applied," says the report.
Slot allocation in Europe is governed by detailed EC regulations on how national slot co-ordinators should decide between competing demands. Under current regulations, there are no effective mechanisms to maximise efficiencies in slot allocation, and no official system for trading slots. However, the report says secondary slot trading at Europe's airports could lead to them handling an extra 51 million passengers by 2025, a 7% increase.
In terms of available seat kilometres, airlines' trading of slots could see a 17% increase as a result of some small aircraft on short-haul routes being replaced by larger aircraft on long-haul routes.
Laurie Price, Mott MacDonald director of aviation strategy, says: "If efficiencies are to be adopted through secondary trading, this could lead to a loss of some peripheral routes. The alternative could be to offer protective guarantees to ensure continuity of service, such as PSOs, which are widely used in France, Italy and Spain."
"There are very real efficiencies to be gained through secondary trading, although it is not a substitute for new infrastructure in terms of improved air traffic control and runway capacity. There is an element of 'make do and mend' in secondary trading."
The report concludes that secondary trading would allow new entrants easier access to congested hubs and improve competition between major European hubs, especially on long-haul services - although competition could be weaker on intra-EU flights as carriers sell their slots.
Mott MacDonald, which consulted a broad spectrum of the industry, says there was widespread agreement that slots used for short-haul routes would be culled, especially those with less-than average numbers of transfer passengers. "Typically, these would be routes serving peripheral regions or member states and operated with smaller than average aircraft," says the report.
Source: Flight International
