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Aviation regulator set to reintroduce slot control
The system, known as slot control, is expected to be in place in time to ease congestion during the summer season. The move is likely to incur the wrath of Ryanair, which mounted a successful legal challenge against the introduction of slot control last summer. Ryanair's
challenge was successful because the High Court ruled that the However, the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) has now repeated the introduction process, and is free to reintroduce the slot control. The CAR's decision is understood to be based on a report by consultants Jacobs, which said that slot control would be needed to ease congestion at the airport. Aviation Regulator Cathal Guiomard has been strongly in favour of slot control and an announcement is expected in the coming weeks. In a letter to the CAR on January 4, Aer Lingus said that slot control needed to be reintroduced to prevent "serious negative consequences for passenger service levels and operational integrity". The Irish Aviation Authority and Dublin Airport Authority both wrote to the CAR to confirm their support for slot control. Ryanair also wrote to the CAR, on January 5. In the letter the low-fares airline dismissed the Jacobs report as "muddled and not easy to read" with assumptions that were not "clear or consistent". It said that it was "imperative" that airport users were fully consulted before slot control was re-introduced. There are fears that Ryanair could take legal action against the return of slot control. If the airline succeeds in securing an injunction, the system's re-introduction could be delayed by several months. Laura Noonan |
