Civil aviation ministry to amend slot allocation guidelines for airlines

The civil aviation ministry is planning to amend the guidelines for the allocation of slots for airlines, wherein it has proposed to review the allocation every six months.

A slot authorises an airline to operate a flight at a particular airport during a specific time.

Under the proposal, the ministry has proposed changing the frequency of review of the slot allocation every six months from the current practice of one year.

As per the proposed change, "historic precedence is only granted for a series of slots if the airline can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the coordinators that the series was operated at least 80 per cent of the time during the period allocated in the previous season".

The ministry has sought comments on the proposal till November 28, according to a communication on its website.

The country's civil aviation sector is slowly coming back to normal after being significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.