Airline slot hoarders warned

THE GOVERNMENT is drafting stricter guidelines on the allocation of airline slots at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, a part of a plan aimed at maximizing the country’s busiest air gateway as passenger traffic hit a new record in 2015.

The government also wanted to crackdown on airlines “hoarding” slots and allowing others to use it for a fee.

Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) executive director Carmelo Arcilla said in an interview Friday that new rules included tightening the “use it, or lose it” policy so that airlines would utilize a slot at least 80 percent of the time. He said current policies for airport slots—or those assigned by the airport operator to airlines for their arrival and departure activities at a certain time of the day—were not as “clear cut.”

Arcilla said the guidelines, which CAB began drafting late last year, could be finished and ready for implementation this month.

“We’ve reached a point where slots have become scarce. There was much more demand than supply,” Arcilla said.

He said excess demand was seen only during the peak flying times, which usually run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Slots during these period are preferred by full service carriers with global operations.