British Airways was handed a fine by Airport Coordination Limited (ACL) that found the airline had breached slot rules at London Heathrow Airport (LHR).
According to ACL, a company that coordinates airport slots around the world, British Airways operated five flights without a slot during the Winter 2020 season. The decision, which is final, is based on the Airports Slot Allocation Regulations 2006 regulation 16. British Airways was fined £20,000 ($27,000), outlined the company.
Regulation 16, which then refers to Regulation 14, indicates that a slot operator can be fined if the party has repeatedly or intentionally operated “services at times significantly different from the allocated slots,” or has used “slots in a significantly different way from that indicated at the time of allocation, where such use causes prejudice to airport or air traffic operations.”
British Airways was not the only airline season that was fined for breaching regulations during the Winter 2020. Air China was fined £8,000 ($10,862) for “three off-slot operations, which operated significantly early in September 2020” at Heathrow Airport (LHR).
