The government’s decision to scale back its airline slot amnesty and reintroduce the 80:20 "use it or lose it" rules for slots this summer could jeopardise the summer getaway and risk a repeat of last year’s "airport chaos", consumer champion Which? has warned.
Up to 35 airlines could be affected by the action (Credit: Heathrow airport)
The Department for Transport (DfT) on Tuesday (31 January) confirmed that from 26 March, slot usage rules would revert to pre-pandemic levels citing the return of UK air passengers numbers in October to 85% of equivalent 2019 volumes.
The DfT, though, said some pandemic-era flexibility would be retained to guard against airlines operating so-called "ghost flights" – empty or near-empty flights – to preserve their slots, or cancelling flights at the lat-minute.
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