Airports Council International (ACI) World, the global voice of airports, reiterates the significance of the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) in providing global guidance to effectively manage scarce airport capacity. While recognizing the important role of the guidelines, ACI World emphasizes the need for local-level involvement to ensure optimal utilization of resources and seamless operations.
The WASG, developed collaboratively by airports, airlines, and slot coordinators through the Worldwide Airport Slot Board (WASB), provides a framework for allocating limited airport capacity among airlines and ensuring that capacity allocated is indeed used by airlines through the Use-It-Or-Lose-It Rule and tight slot performance monitoring.
ACI World highlights the critical need for regional-level and national-level engagement in implementing the Slot Guidelines and the need to tailor these guidelines to the unique operational intricacies of each airport. Therefore, ACI World encourages governments to ensure that slot rules best meet the realities of each market and offer adaptable solutions as required to address specific challenges and opportunities.
This approach ensures that airport capacity allocation decisions reflect the local market’s demands, while also considering consumer needs, airport connectivity, operational efficiency, and passenger experience.
“The Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines are a reference for managing scarce airport capacity and maintaining a balanced and competitive aviation market,” said Luis Felipe de Oliveira, Director General of ACI World. “While the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines provide useful guidance, we must not overlook the importance of local-level involvement. By engaging the airport community directly, we can ensure that the most effective slot rules are implemented that best serve travellers and communities.
“Aviation has undergone significant changes over the last four decades—the rise of the low-cost model and airline consolidation, more airport and airline privatizations, greater market liberalization, and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic—and slot rules would likely gain if they were also part of this movement of change. ACI World counts on the WASB to continue its endeavor to reform the guidelines to ensure their continued relevance.”
