IAG, the parent company of British Airways and the Spanish carrier, Iberia, wants to get around 56 more daily slots at London's Heathrow airport. But this is not worrying Indian carriers wanting to fly to London,
at least not for the moment. The need for new slots arises from IAG and Lufthansa reached agreeing to acquire British Midland Ltd for GBP 172.5 million. “This acquisition will not impact Indian carriers as the India-UK market is presently well served. However, future expansion into Heathrow by Indian carriers will be impacted but I do not see expansion in the near term,” said Kapil Kaul, Chief Executive Officer, South Asia, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. He also pointed out that Indian carriers, particularly Kingfisher, had bought expensive slots at Heathrow in 2008-09. V Thulasidas, former Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, said that even in 2007 getting slots for the airline at Heathrow was extremely difficult. A senior official of an Indian airline operating to Heathrow added that the bigger worry was the dominant position that British Airways would enjoy over a global gateway hub such as Heathrow. “For Indian carriers, Heathrow is probably the biggest European hub with the largest en-catchment area for passengers. The dominance of one airline over slots at a constrained airport could be worrisome,” the official said. Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in Europe and getting slots is difficult. What is making it worse for carriers is that the airport's proposal of building a third runway has not been accepted by the authorities. The construction of a third runway would have opened up the airport for more flights. The capacity constraint problem at Heathrow has been building up over a period of time. In 2003, British Airways had paid USD 12 million for two slots at the airport through an online auction. A major US airline, which was selling assets to come out of bankruptcy, had also auctioned its slots at the airport. In 2007, Air India concluded negotiations with Malaysian Airlines for six additional landing slots at Heathrow. While Air India officials claimed that no monies were provided to Malaysian for the slots, the agreement did see the Maharaja surrender some seats that it was entitled to sell on Malaysian flights.
Click here to see the original article>at least not for the moment. The need for new slots arises from IAG and Lufthansa reached agreeing to acquire British Midland Ltd for GBP 172.5 million. “This acquisition will not impact Indian carriers as the India-UK market is presently well served. However, future expansion into Heathrow by Indian carriers will be impacted but I do not see expansion in the near term,” said Kapil Kaul, Chief Executive Officer, South Asia, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. He also pointed out that Indian carriers, particularly Kingfisher, had bought expensive slots at Heathrow in 2008-09. V Thulasidas, former Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, said that even in 2007 getting slots for the airline at Heathrow was extremely difficult. A senior official of an Indian airline operating to Heathrow added that the bigger worry was the dominant position that British Airways would enjoy over a global gateway hub such as Heathrow. “For Indian carriers, Heathrow is probably the biggest European hub with the largest en-catchment area for passengers. The dominance of one airline over slots at a constrained airport could be worrisome,” the official said. Heathrow is one of the busiest airports in Europe and getting slots is difficult. What is making it worse for carriers is that the airport's proposal of building a third runway has not been accepted by the authorities. The construction of a third runway would have opened up the airport for more flights. The capacity constraint problem at Heathrow has been building up over a period of time. In 2003, British Airways had paid USD 12 million for two slots at the airport through an online auction. A major US airline, which was selling assets to come out of bankruptcy, had also auctioned its slots at the airport. In 2007, Air India concluded negotiations with Malaysian Airlines for six additional landing slots at Heathrow. While Air India officials claimed that no monies were provided to Malaysian for the slots, the agreement did see the Maharaja surrender some seats that it was entitled to sell on Malaysian flights.