Top 5: The Biggest Airport Slot Deals In History
A look back at some of the largest slot sales and deals ever recorded.
SUMMARY
- Airlines must secure time slots at busy airports, like London Heathrow, which can be very expensive due to high demand.
- Middle Eastern carrier Oman Air secured an early morning slot at Heathrow for $75 million, allowing for optimal business travel schedules.
- Airlines like American Airlines and Jet Airways have purchased slots at Heathrow to strengthen their presence and expand operations in key markets.
While airlines worldwide can freely choose to operate flights to several airports, this is not the case with a few busy airports that attract a lot of traffic from major international carriers. These are usually the primary airports located at global travel hotspots and travel hubs. Thus, to operate to such coveted airports (and not everyone can), airlines must secure time slots, which can often be very expensive.
To know more about airline slots, check out our detailed guide here.
Here is a list consisting of five of the biggest airport slot deals recorded. Interestingly, four of the five deals have taken place in regard to airlines securing slots at the extremely popular London Heathrow Airport (LHR), which is also one of the busiest and most congested international airports in the world.
1Oman Air acquires prime time slots
In 2016, Middle Eastern carrier Oman Air made headlines when news broke out that the carrier secured one of the sought-after early morning slots at LHR for a record $75 million.
As reported by Travel Weekly, the purchased slot would allow Oman Air to land at Heathrow early in the morning, which was perfect for business travelers who can then have the whole day ahead of them for work-related activities.
Forbes reports that early morning arrival slots at Heathrow are the most expensive, and the value of slots decreases as the day progresses.
At the time, it was speculated that Oman Air got this slot from the Air France/KLM group, but later sources such as Business Traveller confirmed it was Kenya Airways that sold the slot. It is worth noting that Oman Air no longer operates to LHR at the time and instead operates a daily flight with a scheduled departure of 14:20 from Muscat and an arrival time of 19:10 in Heathrow.
2SAS slots to American Airlines
In April 2017, American Airlines confirmed the purchase of two slot pairs for LHR from Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) for a sum of $75 million. As reported by Business Traveller, it is worth noting that despite the sale in 2017, the terms stated that SAS could continue to operate both slot pairs for up to three years.
However, two years prior, in 2015, SAS sold a single pair of slots for a staggering $60 million. This slot was also purchased by American Airlines.
At the time, American Airlines was working to strengthen its presence in the key market, which also enabled the airline to work closer with its European counterpart – British Airways, which is also a fellow oneworld member.
3Jet Airways’ 3 slots (sort of)
Indian carrier Jet Airways, a decade ago, had three slots to operate into London Heathrow. But in 2013, as reported by One Mile At A Time, when Abu Dhabi-based Etihad became an investor, the carrier bought the three slots for $70 million from Jet Airways and then leased them back so that the Indian carrier could continue operating flights to LHR and, at the same time, raise some capital for the airline.
However, when Jet Airways ceased operations in 2019, the slots to Heathrow were returned to Etihad, which left the airline with seven slots at LHR, of which only four were being used by the airline.
Since several of these slot purchases and deals usually remain undisclosed, it remains unclear what happened to these slots, as Etihad currently only operates four daily flights. Yet, at the time, to retain the slots, Etihad upped their frequencies to Heathrow and planned to lease one of the slot pairs to Air Serbia.
4Air New Zealand ends Heathrow flights
Air New Zealand, up until 2020, operated flights to London Heathrow with a stopover. However, as reported by Forbes, the airline decided to let go of its slot because the flights, considering the long distance, had to make a stopover (either at Hong Kong or Los Angeles) and were faced with fifth freedom traffic restrictions.
To know more about Fifth Freedom flights, check out our detailed guide here.
It is reported that Air New Zealand sold its slot, which it used on its service via Los Angeles, for a price of $27 million. Since the arrival time at Heathrow was later in the morning, its value was considerably lower when compared to the slot that Oman Air acquired.
As for the carrier’s flight to Heathrow via Hong Kong, the onward service to LHR was dropped. However, Air New Zealand entered a joint venture with Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, which began operating the vacated slot at Heathrow.
5Slot swap
US-based carriers Delta Air Lines and US Airways, in 2011, entered an agreement to swap operating slots in New York’s LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and the Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington.
As reported by Reuters, this deal saw US Airways acquire 42 slot pairs from Delta At DCA, along with rights to operate additional daily flights to São Paulo and receive $66.5 million in cash. On the other hand, Delta would receive 132 slot pairs at LGA from US Airways.
Reports suggest that US Airways, with this swap deal, was able to access profitable assets in Washington while discarding unprofitable assets at LaGuardia. Meanwhile, Delta continued its operational expansion within the New York area, a significant market for the airline.
Delta’s New York expansion has continued over the years, and in 2015, the airline was able to lease 24 slots at New York’s JFK airport from United Airlines for long-term use.
News taken from: Simpleflying
