Real airlines pay millions for slots
Real airlines pay at only a handful of Level 3 Coordinated airports (but not all). And they do not pay to the airport, but rather to other airlines. If an airport has a slot available, that slot is available free of charge to the airline. Real Airlines usually do not pay for slots at most of the airports they serve. For slots they buy, it is actually a bit shady practice, because slot trade is not endorsed by IATA/ICAO. Wen airlines do actually pay to other airline, the slots are basically exchanged/transferred and the payment is for "something else". The free assignment of slots is given in AS by the computer, if slot is available, same as in real life. I do not see there is anything wrong with current slot assignment in AS or a need to charge for the slots, because that would be far from simulating reality.
The following guidance notes summarise and paraphrase the slot rules and regulations. This guidance should not be relied upon exclusively. It is recommended to refer to the original text (eg, IATA Worldwide Slot Guidelines and EU Slot Regulation – available in the Library area of the website) and, where necessary, seek professional advice.
Airport slot allocation is governed globally by the IATA Worldwide Slot Guidelines and, within the EU, by the EU Slot Regulation 95/93 as amended. There are also national or local laws in some countries.
Slot allocation occurs at airports that are designated as coordinated (Level 3) – an airport where there is a significant and lasting shortfall in capacity and, in order to land or take-off, it is necessary to have a slot allocated by a coordinator. A slot is a permission to use the full range of airport infrastructure necessary to operate an air service at a particular time and date, eg, runway, terminal, apron, gates, night quota, etc.
Slots are allocated in scheduling seasons – summer starting in late March and winter starting in late October. The allocation of slots occurs in advance of the biannual IATA Slot Conferences held each November (summer) and June (winter).
The primary allocation of slots is an administrative process – available slots in the pool are allocated for free by a coordinator based on a set of allocation priorities and criteria.
One of the priorities is that new entrants receive priority in the allocation of 50% of the slot pool. An airline is considered a new entrant at an airport on a particular day if, upon allocation, it would (a) hold fewer than five slots in total on that day, or (b ) for an intra-EU route with less than three competitors, hold fewer than five slots for that route on that day.
Airlines can earn historic rights or grandfather rights to a series of slots, provided they operate the slots as allocated by the coordinator at least 80% of the time during a season – the use-it-or-lose-it rule. Airlines can lose historic rights to slots for repeated and intentional slot misuse.
A series of slots is at least five slots at the same time on the same day of the week, distributed regularly in the same scheduling season, eg, a series of 09:15 departure slots over at least five consecutive Mondays.
Unless prohibited by the laws of a country, airlines can trade their rights to historic slots in a secondary market. These trades may be accompanied by monetary or other compensation.
Within the EU, slots are traded by way of a slot exchange – slots are swapped between airlines on a one-for-one basis. The exchange involves swapping historic peak time slots for newly allocated off peak slots. The off peak slots are returned to the pool after the exchange, so that the net effect of the exchange is the transfer of peak time slots from Airline A to Airline B.
On 30 April 2008, the European Commission issued a clarification of the Slot Regulation. In his press release, Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission, said:
"At crowded airports, we need to make sure that slots are used as efficiently as possible and that airlines have a fair chance to develop their operations. Slots at airports must be distributed in a fair and non-discriminatory way. Today we are recognising for the first time that secondary trading is an acceptable way of allowing slots to be swapped among airlines. We will keep a close eye on the situation across Europe and ensure that secondary trading works to the advantage of consumers, but this system has already shown its value in London, where it has allowed a range of airlines to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the EU-US aviation agreement and to create new levels of competition."