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"The slots are permissions to use airport
infrastructure which is given by the airport to
the airlines. In case of Heathrow Airport, after
two years (of allotment) the airline is entitled
to sale or lease (the slot)," the ministry
said in a statement July 22.
"The trade of slot must be confirmed by
the airport coordination limited, Heathrow. In
the case of slot allocation at Heathrow Airport,
the government of India has no role to play,"
said the statement.
In late Feburary, Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways
bought Jet Airways' slots at London's Heathrow
airport by paying an amount of $70 million under
the sale and lease back agreement, under which
the Indian passenger carrier will be able to continue
its operations to London with these slots.
The ministry's stand on the issue came up as
it was alleged that Jet Airways sold slots at
Heathrow Airport which are owned by the government
and which amounted to cheating.
Notably, the ministry said this was a common
practice at the Heathrow Airport, pointing out
that 526 slots were traded during 2012.
Recently, the issue was raised by members of
parliament (MPs) and the parliament standing committee
on transport, tourism and culture.
The ministry added that Air India also is involved
in slot trading. Currently, Air India has leased
out one of its four pairs of slot at Heathrow
Airport to the US's Delta Airways.
Etihad Airways has agreed to buy 24 percent stake
in Jet Airways. The deal is expected to garner
around Rs.2,058 crore ($379 million) for Jet Airways,
which, the company said, will enable it to service
its debts and provide passengers with better connectivity.
Some parliamentarians and political parties,
including the main opposition Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP), have voiced opposition to the deal
and sought an explanation from Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh.
The text of the statement is:
Sale of Slots by Jet to
Ethihad at Heathrow Airport
Recently the issue of slot trading at Heathrow
Airport by Jet Airways to Ethihad Airways is being
raised by various fora including Members of Parliament,
Media and Parliament Standing Committee on Transport,
Tourism and Culture during the Demand for Grants
2013-14 of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The
main allegation is that the slots at Heathrow
Airport are owned by the Government of India and
not Jet Airways and that they have been sold by
Jet Airways for consideration to foreign carrier
(Ethihad) without permission of the Government
of India and without reimbursement of this consideration
to Government of India, which amounts to cheating.
It is also alleged that Air India has been consistently
trying to operate more flights to London’s
Heathrow Airport but is unable to do so due to
unavailability of the slots. Therefore, these
slots should have been transferred to the national
carrier. There is a confusion that trading of
slots at Heathrow and allotment of international
traffic rights to the Indian carriers by the Ministry
of Civil Aviation are the same thing.
These allegations are absolutely baseless and
false. The entitlements/allotments of traffic
rights to Indian carriers and availability of
slots at foreign airports (Heathrow) are two different
matters. The rights to fly on international routes
under Bilateral Air Service Agreement are given
by the Government of India to the designated Indian
carriers as per their demand and availability
of traffic rights for which detailed guidelines
have been issued by the Government of India.
The slots are permissions to use a runway or
airport infrastructure that means a right of the
airline to land and depart from a particular airport
which is given by the airport to the airlines
as per the procedure. After slot allocation, the
system of slot trading is not available at various
airports in India. However, in case of Heathrow
Airport, once the slot has been allocated to the
airline, the airline after 2 years gets the grandfather
rights and the airline is entitled to trade the
slot to another airline by way of sale/lease/baby
sitting etc.
In case of London’s Heathrow Airport, when
an airline (Indian carriers) for the first time
applies for a slot, the Airport Coordination Limited
of Heathrow allocates the slot (called Pair or
Slot i.e. Departure and Arrival) as per the availability
of the time gap.
The slot time may or may not be suitable to
an airline which, in turn, is free to swap/trade
the slot with any other airline through lease
or buy it from other airline. This operates on
the principle of willing buyers and willing sellers.
The trade of slot must be confirmed by the Airport
Coordination Limited, Heathrow. As demand exceeds
supply at Heathrow, slot trading is now the principal
means of entry. In the case of slot allocation
at Heathrow Airport, Government of India or any
other Civil Aviation Institution in India has
no role to play. This is purely a function of
Airport Coordination Limited of Heathrow Airport
and the concerned airlines.
The data regarding slot trading, during the
last 12 years, received from Heathrow Airport
(enclosed) clearly shows that during 12 years,
slot trading has increased from 42 slots in 2000
to 526 slots during 2012. It also shows that while
the pool available of slots in 2012 was only 22
against which pool allocation of 20 slots was
done by the Airport Coordination Limited whereas
526 slots were traded through transfers which
clearly shows that slot trading is a very common
practice at Heathrow Airport. Most of the airlines
including SWISS, British Airways, Virgin, Qantas,
Delta, Continental, Flybe, Air Jamaica, Air France,
Air India and Jet are involved in slot trading/transfer
for the last 15 years.
As per available information, Jet Airways has
transferred to Ethihad 3 pairs of slots at Heathrow
Airport, London which has been confirmed by the
Airport Coordination Limited, the slot coordinator
for Heathrow Airport. No permission from Government
of India/Ministry of Civil Aviation was required.
However, Jet Airways has obtained permission from
Reserve Bank of India under FEMA because foreign
exchange was involved in the said trading.
At present, Air India has 4 pairs of slots at
Heathrow Airport. Till winter 2012, Air India
was utilising only 2 pairs of slots and remaining
2 pairs were leased to Delta Airways for consideration.
The lease of one pair of slot got expired in winter
2012 and since then Air India has started utilising
this pair of slots also. Presently, Air India
is utilising only 3 pairs of slots at London’s
Heathrow Airport as against 4 pairs of slots allocated
to it. One pair still remains leased out to Delta
Airways.
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