Mumbai airport’s proposal to consider auctioning slots has been slammed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Airport slots are specific time periods allotted for an aircraft to land or take off at an airport.
Alexandre de Juniac, IATA Director General, told the Indian media assembled here for global media day event that Mumbai airport’s decision to not follow the World Slot Guidelines is a mistake.
“I can tell you well in advance that if you auction the slots in India you (can) bet (on) who will be the winners; (but) it will not be the Indian airlines. It will be the richest guy on the planet, probably Emirates (the Dubai headquartered airline), Qatar (the Doha headquartered airline), Etihad (the Abu Dhabi headquartered airline)….of course because they have the money. It is complete distortion of newcomers who do not have means to buy the slots. We strongly disagree with it,” he said.
Pointing out that the World Slot Guidelines are recognised and applied globally, the IATA DG added that to ensure that there are no problems or drawbacks, the guidelines are reviewed regularly. “We have had bad experiences of auctioning of slots in China,” he cautioned.
Since 1947, under IATA’s auspices, airlines have met regularly to discuss their slot allocations planned for the following season to improve interline connections and handling arrangements. Slot conferences are held twice a year in June and in November.
The prime objective of the slot process is to allow airlines to acquire, retain and exchange slots necessary to operate at a given airport. Through the allocation of slots, limited airport resources are efficiently used to benefit the greatest number of airport users and travelers.
(This correspondent was in Geneva at the invitation of International Air Transport Association)