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London Heathrow Terminal 3 To Reopen On 1 June 2021

Heathrow Terminal 3 will reopen on 1 June 2021 with a dedicated arrivals facility for passengers arriving from countries the UK government has placed on its “red list”.

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Heathrow Airport At Night (Image Credit: Heathrow)

London Heathrow Terminal 3 will reopen on Tuesday 1 June 2021 with a dedicated arrivals facility for passengers arriving from countries the UK government has placed on its “red list”.

This follows criticism that passengers arriving from “amber” and “green” countries have faced long queues at the UK border and have consequently spent a long time in close proximity to passengers from “red” countries who are required to quarantine on arrival at a dedicated facility.

Terminal 3, along with Terminal 4, closed to passenger flights over a year ago as Heathrow Airport progressively consolidated all airlines at Terminals 2 and 5 in response to COVID-19.

It is planned that the dedicated arrivals facility will transfer to Terminal 4 as soon as practicable. This should then allow Terminal 3 to fully reopen to passenger flights so that airlines such as Delta and Virgin Atlantic can transfer all their flights back to Terminal 3.

At the time of publication there has been no comment from individual airlines as to how the new arrangement will work. It’s not clear whether aircraft will continue to arrive at Terminals 2 and 5, with passengers bussed to Terminal 3 to clear the UK border.

The dedicated arrivals facility will only apply to flights direct from “red list” countries, and not to passengers who have travelled indirectly via amber / green countries.

Passengers due to arrive from “red list” countries from 1 June 2021 are advised to check the latest guidance from Heathrow and the status of their bookings with their airline.

© Copyright London Air Travel 2021.

“Use It Or Lose It” Slot Rules Waived For Summer 2021

“Use it or lose it” slot rules are waived once again at UK airports for the summer 2021 season.

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London Heathrow Terminal 5A, May 2020 — London Heathrow Terminal 5 (Image Credit: Heathrow)

Airlines at UK airports will be free to cancel flights over the summer of 2021 without losing their slots.

Airport Coordination Ltd, the body responsible for allocating slots at UK airports, has confirmed that the 80/20 “use it lose it” rule on airport slots will be waived at UK airports for the summer 2021 season.

This waiver has been in place since the start of the summer 2020 season. There had been complaints from some airlines that this waiver was benefiting incumbent airlines and inhibiting competition.

“Use It Or Lose It” Slot Rules Waived For Winter Season

Airlines will benefit from an extension of a waiver of “use it or lose it” slot rules until 27 March 2021.

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Airport Coordination Ltd, the body responsible for governing the allocation of slots at London airports, has granted an extension of the waiver of “use it or lose it” rules until the end of the winter season.

However, reform of the slot waiver process is proposed by the European Commission to address concerns that it restricts competition.

Ordinarily airlines are required to use their airport slots for 80% of a season to avoid forfeiting them. Following a ruling by the European Commission airlines are currently benefiting from a waiver of this rule. This means they can cancel as many flights as they like without risk of losing their slots.

There had been doubts as to whether the waiver would be extended into the winter season. Indeed, only three weeks ago, ACL advised airlines that they should plan for the waiver not to be extended into the winter.

European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valeăn has today, Monday 14 September, issued a statement announcing the Commission’s intention to extend the slot waiver.

The Commission has published a report for the European Parliament and Council identifying shortcomings with the current process, namely that incumbent airlines are not handing slots back to slot coordinators in sufficient time for others to use on a temporary basis.

Adina Valeăn has made it clear in her statement that as full slot waiver has been granted for the whole winter season, incumbent airlines are expected to follow the spirit of the waiver and hand back slots sufficiently early for other airlines to use them.

“Use It Or Lose It” Slot Rules Likely To Return This Winter

Airlines at London airports are unlikely to benefit from a relaxation of “use it or lose it” slot rules from 25 October 2020.

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Currently, airlines operating from London airports benefit from a relaxation of “use it or lose it” rules which govern their ownership of slots.

Ordinarily airlines must use their slots at London airports for 80% of the time in the winter or summer season to retain their slots. This is to prevent airlines from hoarding slots to keep out competitors.

Earlier this year, Airport Coordination Ltd agreed to relax this rule for the summer 2020 season following a ruling from the European Commission.

By all accounts, air travel is not expect to meaningfully recover until well into 2021. Airlines face a tough winter. With the winter season now less than two months away, there are no indications that ACL is preparing to relax its “use it or lose it” rule for London airports over the winter season.

ACL has today, Wednesday 26 August 2020, issued guidance to airlines in the expectation that “use it or lose it” rules will return for London airports from Sunday 25 October 2020.

For airlines, this presents a challenge. If they do not use their slots, particularly at London Heathrow, these will be forfeited and ultimately acquired by competitors for free.

At the same time, the overwhelming priority for airlines is the preservation of cash. Many airlines are actively ensuring that every single flight they operate is on a cash flow positive basis. Airlines could operate “ghost flights” to preserve their slots. This will cost money and leave them exposed to criticism for its impact on the environment.

This rule could still change, but it will still give airlines very little notice.

Some airlines have taken steps to lease slots to partner airlines. Lufthansa has leased 40 weekly slots to Brussels Airlines and 164 weekly slots to Eurowings for the winter.

For BA, this does mean it is likely to continue to operate Gatwick short-haul routes at Heathrow over the winter and possibly lease slots to other IAG and Oneworld alliance airlines.

“Use It Or Lose It” Slot Rules Relaxed Until October 2020

Airlines operating at London City, Gatwick and Heathrow airports have the flexibility to cancel flights up to 24 October 2020 without risk of forfeiting slots.

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London Heathrow Terminal 5A (Image Credit: Heathrow)

Airlines operating at London City, Gatwick, Heathrow and many other UK & EU airports have been granted further flexibility to cancel flights without forfeiting slots.

Under EU “use it or lose it” rules airlines must use their slots for at least 80% of each travel season. Otherwise, the slots are forfeited and will become available to other airlines.

Following a ruling by the European Commission, ACL, which is responsible for overseeing slot allocations at London City, Gatwick and Heathrow, had allowed an alleviation until Tuesday 30 June 2020.

This was granted just two weeks ago and was due to be reviewed again in May. However, this alleviation has now been extended to the entirety of the summer season, until Saturday 24 October 2020.

Airline Slot Waivers At London City, Gatwick & Heathrow

Airlines operating at London City, Gatwick and Heathrow airports have the flexibility to cancel flights up to 30 June 2020 without risk of forfeiting slots.

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United Airlines at London Heathrow — London Heathrow (Image Credit: Heathrow)

Airlines operating at London City, Gatwick and Heathrow airports have been granted a waiver to cancel flights up to 30 June 2020 without risk of forfeiting their slots.

Under “use it or lose it” rules airlines must use their slots for 80% of the time during a travel season. Otherwise, the slots will be forfeited and placed into a pool for other airlines to bid for.

For airlines facing significantly reduced demand due to Coronavirus, this means they are limited in how many flights they cancel.

Airlines would rather run empty flights than hand slots free of charge to their competitors, which in the case of Heathrow, could otherwise cost tens of millions to buy.

Airport Coordination Ltd which oversees the management of slots at City, Gatwick and Heathrow, had granted a limited waiver for slots used for mainline China and Hong Kong flights. The company had said that its ability to grant a broader waiver was constrained by EU Slot Regulations.

The European Airport Coordinators Association had published a paper urging the European Commission to relax these regulations. It has since done so, and whilst the legislation has not yet been formally adopted by the European Council and European Parliament, ACL will now relax slot regulations.