Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93 of 18 January 1993 on common rules for the allocation of slots at Community airports

Article 1

Scope

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation:

(a) ‘slot’ shall mean the permission given by a coordinator in accordance with this Regulation to use the full range of airport infrastructure necessary to operate an air service at a coordinated airport on a specific date and time for the purpose of landing or take-off as allocated by a coordinator in accordance with this Regulation;

(b) ‘new entrant’ shall mean: (i) an air carrier requesting, as part of a series of slots, a slot at an airport on any day, where, if the carrier's request were accepted, it would in total hold fewer than five slots at that airport on that day, or (ii) an air carrier requesting a series of slots for a non-stop scheduled passenger service between two Community airports where at most two other air carriers operate the same non-stop scheduled service between these airports or airport systems on that day, where, if the air carrier's request were accepted, the air carrier would nonetheless hold fewer than five slots at that airport on that day for that non-stop service, or (iii) an air carrier requesting a series of slots at an airport for a non-stop scheduled passenger service between that airport and a regional airport where no other air carrier operates a direct scheduled passenger service between these airports or airport systems on that day, where, if the air carrier's request were accepted, the air carrier would nonetheless hold fewer than five slots at that airport on that day for that non-stop service. An air carrier holding more than 5 % of the total slots available on the day in question at a particular airport, or more than 4 % of the total slots available on the day in question in an airport system of which that airport forms part, shall not be considered as a new entrant at that airport;

(ba) during the period from 30 October 2022 to 28 October 2023, ‘new entrant’ shall mean: (i) an air carrier requesting, as part of a series of slots, a slot at an airport on any day, where, if the carrier’s request were accepted, it would in total hold fewer than seven slots at that airport on that day; or (ii) an air carrier requesting a series of slots for a non-stop scheduled passenger service between two Union airports, where at most two other air carriers operate the same non-stop scheduled service between those airports on that day, and where, if the air carrier’s request were accepted, the air carrier would nonetheless hold fewer than nine slots at that airport on that day for that non-stop service. An air carrier which, together with its parent company, its own subsidiaries or the subsidiaries of its parent company, holds more than 10 % of the total slots allocated on the day in question at a particular airport, shall not be considered as a new entrant at that airport;

(c) ‘direct air service’ shall mean a service between two airports including stopovers with the same aircraft and same flight number;

(d) ‘scheduling period’ shall mean either the summer or winter season as used in the schedules of air carriers;

(e) ‘Community air carrier’ shall mean an air carrier with a valid operating licence issued by a Member State in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92 of 23 July 1992 on licensing of air carriers (¹);

(f) (i) ‘air carrier’ shall mean an air transport undertaking holding a valid operating licence or equivalent at the latest on 31 January for the following summer scheduling period or on 31 August for the following winter scheduling period; for the purpose of Articles 4, 8, 8a, 10 and 10a, the definition of air carrier shall also include business aviation operators, when they operate according to a schedule; for the purposes of Articles 7 and 14, the definition of air carrier shall also include all civil aircraft operators; (ii) ‘group of air carriers’ shall mean two or more air carriers which together perform joint operations, franchise operations or code-sharing for the purpose of operating a specific air service;

(g) ‘coordinated airport’ shall mean any airport where, in order to land or take off, it is necessary for an air carrier or any other aircraft operator to have been allocated a slot by a coordinator, with the exception of State flights, emergency landings and humanitarian flights;

(h) ‘airport system’ shall mean two or more airports grouped together and serving the same city or conurbation, as indicated in Annex II to Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92;

(i) ‘schedules facilitated airport’ shall mean an airport where there is potential for congestion at some periods of the day, week or year which is amenable to resolution by voluntary cooperation between air carriers and where a schedules facilitator has been appointed to facilitate the operations of air carriers operating services or intending to operate services at that airport;

(j) ‘managing body of an airport’ shall mean the body which, in conjunction with other activities or otherwise, has the task under national laws or regulations of administering and managing the airport facilities and coordinating and controlling the activities of the various operators present at the airport or within the airport system concerned;

(k) ‘series of slots’ shall mean at least five slots having been requested for the same time on the same day of the week regularly in the same scheduling period and allocated in that way or, if that is not possible, allocated at approximately the same time;

(l) ‘business aviation’ shall mean that sector of general aviation which concerns the operation or use of aircraft by companies for the carriage of passengers or goods as an aid to the conduct of their business, where the aircraft are flown for purposes generally considered not for public hire and are piloted by individuals having, at a minimum, a valid commercial pilot license with an instrument rating;

(m) ‘coordination parameters’ shall mean the expression in operational terms of all the capacity available for slot allocation at an airport during each coordination period, reflecting all technical, operational and environmental factors that affect the performance of the airport infrastructure and its different sub-systems;

(n) ‘COVID-19 coordination parameters’ shall mean revised coordination parameters resulting in a reduction of available airport capacity at a coordinated airport as a result of specific sanitary measures imposed by Member States in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Article 3

Conditions for airport coordination

(a) A Member State shall be under no obligation to designate any airport as schedules facilitated or coordinated save in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

(b) A Member State shall not designate an airport as coordinated save in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3.

The Member State responsible shall ensure that a thorough capacity analysis is carried out at an airport with no designation status or at a schedules facilitated airport by the managing body of that airport or by any other competent body when that Member State considers it necessary, or within six months:

(i) following a written request from air carriers representing more than half of the operations at an airport or from the managing body of the airport when either considers that capacity is insufficient for actual or planned operations at certain periods; or

(ii) upon request from the Commission, in particular where an airport is in reality accessible only for air carriers that have been allocated slots or where air carriers and in particular new entrants encounter serious problems in securing landing and take off possibilities at the airport in question.

This analysis, based on commonly recognised methods, shall determine any shortfall in capacity, taking into account environmental constraints at the airport in question. The analysis shall consider the possibilities of overcoming such shortfall through new or modified infrastructure, operational changes, or any other change, and the time frame envisaged to resolve the problems. It shall be updated if paragraph 5 has been invoked, or when there are changes at the airport influencing significantly its capacity and capacity usage. Both the analysis and the method used shall be made available to the parties having requested the analysis and, upon request, to other interested parties. The analysis shall be communicated to the Commission at the same time.

Where capacity problems occur for at least one scheduling period, the Member State shall ensure that the airport is designated as coordinated for the relevant periods only if:

(a) the shortfall is of such a serious nature that significant delays cannot be avoided at the airport, and

(b) there are no possibilities of resolving these problems in the short term.

Article 4

The schedules facilitator and the coordinator

The Member State responsible for a schedules facilitated or coordinated airport shall ensure:

(a) that at a schedules facilitated airport, the schedules facilitator acts under this Regulation in an independent, neutral, non-discriminatory and transparent manner;

(b) the independence of the coordinator at a coordinated airport by separating the coordinator functionally from any single interested party. The system of financing the coordinators' activities shall be such as to guarantee the coordinator's independent status;

(c) that the coordinator acts according to this Regulation in a neutral, non-discriminatory and transparent way.

The coordinator shall on request and within a reasonable time make available free of charge for review to interested parties, in particular to members or observers of the coordination committee, either in written form or in any other easily accessible form, the following information:

(a) historical slots by airline, chronologically, for all air carriers at the airport,

(b) requested slots (initial submissions), by air carriers and chronologically, for all air carriers,

(c) all allocated slots, and outstanding slot requests, listed individually in chronologcial order, by air carriers, for all air carriers,

(d) remaining available slots,

(e) full details on the criteria being used in the allocation.

Article 5

Coordination committee

The tasks of the coordination committee shall be:

(a) to make proposals concerning or advise the coordinator and/or the Member State on: — the possibilities for increasing the capacity of the airport determined in accordance with Article 3 or for improving its usage; — the coordination parameters to be determined in accordance with Article 6; — the methods of monitoring the use of allocated slots; — local guidelines for the allocation of slots or the monitoring of the use of allocated slots, taking into account, inter alia, possible environmental concerns, as provided for in Article 8(5); — improvements to traffic conditions prevailing at the airport in question; — serious problems encountered by new entrants, as provided for in Article 10(9); — all questions relating to the capacity of the airport;

(b) to mediate between all parties concerned on complaints on the allocation of slots, as provided for in Article 11.

Article 6

Coordination parameters

This exercise shall be based on an objective analysis of the possibilities of accommodating the air traffic, taking into account the different types of traffic at the airport, the airspace congestion likely to occur during the coordination period and the capacity situation.

The parameters shall be communicated to the airport coordinator in good time before the initial slot allocation takes place for the purpose of scheduling conferences.

Article 7

Information for schedules facilitators and coordinators

For all other airports with no particular designation status, the managing body of the airport shall provide, when requested by a coordinator, any information in its possession about the planned services of air carriers.

Article 8

Process of slot allocation

Without prejudice to Articles 7, 8a and 9, Article 10(1) and Article 14, paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply when the following conditions are satisfied:

— a series of slots has been used by an air carrier for the operation of scheduled and programmed non-scheduled air services, and

— that air carrier can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the coordinator that the series of slots in question has been operated, as cleared by the coordinator, by that air carrier for at least 80 % of the time during the scheduling period for which it has been allocated.

In such case that series of slots shall entitle the air carrier concerned to the same series of slots in the next equivalent scheduling period, if requested by that air carrier within the time-limit referred to in Article 7(1).

In the event that more than one applicant fulfils the requirements of the first subparagraph, priority shall be given to the air carrier that has operated the greater number of slots of that series.

Article 8a

Slot mobility

Slots may be:

(a) transferred by an air carrier from one route or type of service to another route or type of service operated by that same air carrier;

(b) transferred: (i) between parent and subsidiary companies, and between subsidiaries of the same parent company, (ii) as part of the acquisition of control over the capital of an air carrier, (iii) in the case of a total or partial take-over when the slots are directly related to the air carrier taken over;

(c) exchanged, one for one, between air carriers.

The transfers or exchanges referred to in paragraph 1 shall be notified to the coordinator and shall not take effect prior to the express confirmation by the coordinator. The coordinator shall decline to confirm the transfers or exchanges if they are not in conformity with the requirements of this Regulation and if the coordinator is not satisfied that:

(a) airport operations would not be prejudiced, taking into account all technical, operational and environmental constraints;

(b) limitations imposed according to Article 9 are respected;

(c) a transfer of slots does not fall within the scope of paragraph 3.

(a) Slots allocated to a new entrant as defined in Article 2(b) or (ba) may not be transferred as provided for in paragraph 1(b) of this Article for a period of two equivalent scheduling periods, except in the case of a legally authorised takeover of the activities of a bankrupt undertaking.

(b) Slots allocated to a new entrant as defined in Article 2(b)(ii) and (iii) or in Article 2(ba)(ii) may not be transferred to another route as provided for in paragraph 1(a) of this Article for a period of two equivalent scheduling periods unless the new entrant would have been treated with the same priority on the new route as on the initial route.

(c) Slots allocated to a new entrant as defined in Article 2(b) or (ba) may not be exchanged as provided for in paragraph 1(c) of this Article for a period of two equivalent scheduling periods, except in order to improve the slot timings for these services in relation to the timings initially requested.

Article 8b

Exclusion of compensation claims

The entitlement to series of slots referred to in Article 8(2) shall not give rise to any claims for compensation in respect of any limitation, restriction or elimination thereof imposed under Community law, in particular in application of the rules of the Treaty relating to air transport. This Regulation shall not affect the powers of public authorities to require the transfer of slots between air carriers and to direct how these are allocated pursuant to national competition law or to Articles 81 or 82 of the Treaty or Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 of 21 December 1989 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (²). These transfers can only take place without monetary compensation.

Article 9

Public service obligations

Article 10

Slot pool

If the 80 % usage of the series of slots cannot be demonstrated, all the slots constituting that series shall be placed in the slot pool, unless the non-utilisation can be justified on the basis of any of the following reasons:

(a) unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances outside the air carrier's control leading to: — grounding of the aircraft type generally used for the air service in question; — closure of an airport or airspace; — serious disturbance of operations at the airports concerned, including those series of slots at other Community airports related to routes which have been affected by such disturbance, during a substantial part of the relevant scheduling period;

(b) interruption of air services due to action intended to affect these services which makes it practically and/or technically impossible for the air carrier to carry out operations as planned;

(c) serious financial damage for a Community air carrier concerned, with, as a result, the granting of a temporary license by the licensing authorities pending financial reorganisation of the air carrier in accordance with Article 5(5) of Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92;

(d) judicial proceedings concerning the application of Article 9 of this Regulation for routes where public service obligations have been imposed according to Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 resulting in the temporary suspension of the operation of such routes;

Where the impact of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the destruction of critical infrastructure affects the ability to provide air services, as well as demand for air services, coordinators shall apply the first subparagraph, point (a), to the routes between the Union and Ukraine for the duration of the airspace closure or airport closure, whichever occurs later, and an additional period of 16 weeks. The coordinator shall notify the Commission of the start date and end date of the 16-week period.

In addition, during the period from 30 October 2022 to 28 October 2023, the non-utilisation of a slot may also be justified by the introduction, by public authorities, of restrictions intended to address any major epidemiological situation, natural disaster or political unrest at one end of a route for which the slot in question was operated or planned to be operated, on condition that those restrictions significantly impact the possibility of, or demand for, travel, and that, on the routes concerned, the restrictions lead to any of the following:

(a) a partial or total closure of the border, airport or airspace during a substantial part of the relevant scheduling period;