1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 95/93
of 18 January 1993
on common rules for the allocation of slots at Community airports
(OJ L 14, 22.1.1993, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1 Regulation (EC) No 894/2002 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 27 May 2002L 142 3 31.5.2002
►M2 Regulation (EC) No 1554/2003 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 22 July 2003L 221 1 4.9.2003
►M3 Regulation (EC) No 793/2004 of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 21 April 2004L 138 50 30.4.2004
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COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 95/93
of 18 January 1993
on common rules for the allocation of slots at Community airports
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 84 (2) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),
Whereas there is a growing imbalance between the expansion of the air
transport system in Europe and the availability of adequate airportinfrastructure to meet that demand; whereas there is, as a result, anincreasing number of congested airports in the Community;
Whereas the allocation of slots at congested airports should be based
on neutral, transparent and non-discriminatory rules;
Whereas the requirement of neutrality is best guaranteed when the
decision to coordinate an airport is taken by the Member State respon-sible for that airport on the basis of objective criteria;
Whereas under certain conditions, in order to facilitate operations, it is
desirable that a Member State should be able to designate an airport ascoordinated provided that principles of transparency, neutrality andnon-discrimination are met;
Whereas the Member State responsible for the coordinated airport
should ensure the appointment of a coordinator whose neutrality shouldbe unquestioned;
Whereas transparency of information is an essential element for
ensuring an objective procedure for slot allocation;
Whereas the principles governing the existing system of slot allocation
could be the basis of this Regulation provided that this system evolves
in harmony with the evolution of new transport developments in the
Community;
Whereas it is Community policy to facilitate competition and to encou-
rage entrance into the market, as provided for in Council Regulation
(EEC) No 2408/92 of 23 July 1992 on access for Community air
carriers to intra-Community air routes (
4), and whereas these objectives
require strong support for carriers who intend to start operations onintra-Community routes;
Whereas the existing system makes provision for grandfather rights;
Whereas there should also be provisions to allow new entrants into the
Community market;
Whereas it is necessary to make special provisions, under limited
circumstances, for the maintenance of adequate domestic air servicesto regions of the Member State concerned;
Whereas it is also necessary to avoid situations where, owing to a lack
of available slots, the benefits of liberalization are unevenly spread andcompetition is distorted;
Whereas it is desirable to make the best use of the existing slots in
order to meet the objectives set out above;1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 43, 19. 2. 1991, p. 3.
(2) OJ No C 13, 20. 1. 1992, p. 446.
(3) OJ No C 339, 31. 12. 1991, p. 41.
(4) OJ No L 240, 24. 8. 1992, p. 8.
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Whereas it is desirable that third countries offer Community carriers
equivalent treatment;
Whereas the application of the provisions of this Regulation shall be
without prejudice to the competition rules on the Treaty, in particularArticles 85 and 86;
Whereas arrangements for greater cooperation over the use of Gibraltar
airport were agreed in London on 2 December 1987 by the Kingdom ofSpain and the United Kingdom in a joint declaration by the Ministers
of Foreign Affairs of the two countries, and such arrangements have
yet to come into operation;
Whereas this Regulation should be reviewed after a fixed period of
operation to assess its functioning,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Scope
1. This Regulation shall apply to Community airports.
2. The application of this Regulation to the airport of Gibraltar is
understood to be without prejudice to the respective legal positions of
the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom with regard to the
dispute over sovereignty over the territory in which the airport is situ-ated.
3. Application of the provisions of this Regulation to Gibraltar
airport shall be suspended until the arrangements in the joint declara-tions made by the Foreign Ministers of the Kingdom of Spain and theUnited Kingdom on 2 December 1987 have come into operation. TheGovernments of Spain and the United Kingdom will so inform the
Council of that date.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purpose of this Regulation:
(a) ‘slot’ shall mean the permission given by a coordinator in accor-
dance with this Regulation to use the full range of airportinfrastructure necessary to operate an air service at a coordinatedairport on a specific date and time for the purpose of landing or
take-off as allocated by a coordinator in accordance with this
Regulation;
(b) ‘new entrant’ shall mean:
(i) an air carrier requesting, as part of a series of slots, a slot at
an airport on any day, where, if the carrier's request wereaccepted, it would in total hold fewer than five slots at thatairport on that day, or
(ii) an air carrier requesting a series of slots for a non-stop sched-
uled passenger service between two Community airportswhere at most two other air carriers operate the same non-stop scheduled service between these airports or airport
systems on that day, where, if the air carrier's request were
accepted, the air carrier would nonetheless hold fewer thanfive slots at that airport on that day for that non-stop service,or
(iii) an air carrier requesting a series of slots at an airport for a
non-stop scheduled passenger service between that airport
and a regional airport where no other air carrier operates adirect scheduled passenger service between these airports orairport systems on that day, where, if the air carrier's requestwere accepted, the air carrier would nonetheless hold fewer1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 3
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than five slots at that airport on that day for that non-stop
service.
An air carrier holding more than 5 % of the total slots available on
the day in question at a particular airport, or more than 4 % of thetotal slots available on the day in question in an airport system ofwhich that airport forms part, shall not be considered as a newentrant at that airport;
c) ‘direct air service’ shall mean a service between two airports
including stopovers with the same aircraft and same flight number;
(d) ‘scheduling period’ shall mean either the summer or winter season
as used in the schedules of air carriers;
(e) ‘Community air carrier’ shall mean an air carrier with a valid
operating licence issued by a Member State in accordance withCouncil Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92 of 23 July 1992 on licen-
sing of air carriers (
1);
(f) (i) ‘air carrier’ shall mean an air transport undertaking holding a
valid operating licence or equivalent at the latest on 31January for the following summer season or on 31 August forthe following winter season. For the purpose of Articles 4, 8,
8a and 10, the definition of air carrier shall also include busi-
ness aviation operators, when they operate according to aschedule; for the purposes of Articles 7 and 14; the definitionof air carrier shall also include all civil aircraft operators;
(ii) ‘group of air carriers’ shall mean two or more air carriers
which together perform joint operations, franchise operationsor code-sharing for the purpose of operating a specific airservice;
(g) ‘coordinated airport’ shall mean any airport where, in order to land
or take off, it is necessary for an air carrier or any other aircraft
operator to have been allocated a slot by a coordinator, with theexception of State flights, emergency landings and humanitarianflights;
(h) ‘airport system’ shall mean two or more airports grouped together
and serving the same city or conurbation, as indicated in Annex II
to Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92;
(i) ‘schedules facilitated airport’ shall mean an airport where there is
potential for congestion at some periods of the day, week or yearwhich is amenable to resolution by voluntary cooperation betweenair carriers and where a schedules facilitator has been appointed tofacilitate the operations of air carriers operating services or
intending to operate services at that airport;
(j) ‘managing body of an airport’ shall mean the body which, in
conjunction with other activities or otherwise, has the task undernational laws or regulations of administering and managing theairport facilities and coordinating and controlling the activities of
the various operators present at the airport or within the airport
system concerned;
(k) ‘series of slots’ shall mean at least five slots having been requested
for the same time on the same day of the week regularly in thesame scheduling period and allocated in that way or, if that is notpossible, allocated at approximately the same time;
(l) ‘business aviation’ shall mean that sector of general aviation
which concerns the operation or use of aircraft by companies forthe carriage of passengers or goods as an aid to the conduct oftheir business, where the aircraft are flown for purposes generallyconsidered not for public hire and are piloted by individuals1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 4
(1) OJ No L 240, 24. 8. 1992, p. 1.▼B
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having, at a minimum, a valid commercial pilot license with an
instrument rating;
(m) ‘coordination parameters’ shall mean the expression in operational
terms of all the capacity available for slot allocation at an airportduring each coordination period, reflecting all technical, opera-tional and environmental factors that affect the performance of
the airport infrastructure and its different sub-systems.
Article 3
Conditions for airport coordination
1. (a) A Member State shall be under no obligation to designate any
airport as schedules facilitated or coordinated save in accordancewith the provisions of this Article.
(b) A Member State shall not designate an airport as coordinated
save in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3.
2. A Member State may, however, provide for any airport to be
designated as a ►
M3 schedules facilitated airport ◄provided that
principles of transparency, neutrality and non-discrimination are met.
3. The Member State responsible shall ensure that a thorough capa-
city analysis is carried out at an airport with no designation status or ata schedules facilitated airport by the managing body of that airport orby any other competent body when that Member State considers it
necessary, or within six months:
(i) following a written request from air carriers representing more than
half of the operations at an airport or from the managing body ofthe airport when either considers that capacity is insufficient for
actual or planned operations at certain periods; or
(ii) upon request from the Commission, in particular where an airport
is in reality accessible only for air carriers that have been allocatedslots or where air carriers and in particular new entrants encounterserious problems in securing landing and take off possibilities atthe airport in question.
This analysis, based on commonly recognised methods, shall determine
any shortfall in capacity, taking into account environmental constraints
at the airport in question. The analysis shall consider the possibilities ofovercoming such shortfall through new or modified infrastructure,operational changes, or any other change, and the time frame envisagedto resolve the problems. It shall be updated if paragraph 5 has beeninvoked, or when there are changes at the airport influencing signifi-
cantly its capacity and capacity usage. Both the analysis and the
method used shall be made available to the parties having requestedthe analysis and, upon request, to other interested parties. The analysisshall be communicated to the Commission at the same time.
4. On the basis of the analysis, the Member State shall consult on
the capacity situation at the airport with the managing body of the
airport, the air carriers using the airport regularly, their representative
organisations, representatives of general aviation using the airport regu-larly and air traffic control authorities.
5. Where capacity problems occur for at least one scheduling period,
the Member State shall ensure that the airport is designated as coordi-nated for the relevant periods only if:
(a) the shortfall is of such a serious nature that significant delays
cannot be avoided at the airport, and
(b) there are no possibilities of resolving these problems in the short
term.1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 5
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6. By way of derogation from paragraph 5, Member States may, in
exceptional circumstances, designate as coordinated the airportsaffected for the appropriate period.
►
M3 7.◄ When a capacity sufficient to meet actual or planned
operations is provided at a ►M3 coordinated airport ◄, its desgina-
tion as a fully coordinated airport shall be lifted.
Article 4
The schedules facilitator and the coordinator
1. The Member State responsible for a schedules facilitated or coor-
dinated airport shall ensure the appointment of a qualified natural orlegal person as schedules facilitator or airport coordinator respectivelyafter having consulted the air carriers using the airport regularly, theirrepresentative organisations and the managing body of the airport and
the coordination committee, where such a committee exists. The same
schedules facilitator or coordinator may be appointed for more than oneairport.
2. The Member State responsible for a schedules facilitated or coor-
dinated airport shall ensure:
(a) that at a schedules facilitated airport, the schedules facilitator acts
under this Regulation in an independent, neutral, non-discrimina-
tory and transparent manner;
(b) the independence of the coordinator at a coordinated airport by
separating the coordinator functionally from any single interestedparty. The system of financing the coordinators' activities shall besuch as to guarantee the coordinator's independent status;
(c) that the coordinator acts according to this Regulation in a neutral,
non-discriminatory and transparent way.
3. The schedules facilitator and the coordinator shall participate in
such international scheduling conferences of air carriers as are
permitted by Community law.
4. The schedules facilitator shall advise air carriers and recommend
alternative arrival and/or departure times when congestion is likely to
occur.
5. The coordinator shall be the sole person responsible for the allo-
cation of slots. He shall allocate the slots in accordance with the
provisions of this Regulation and shall make provision so that, in an
emergency, slots can also be allocated outside office hours.
6. The schedules facilitator shall monitor the conformity of air
carriers' operations with the schedules recommended to them. The
coordinator shall monitor the conformity of air carriers' operationswith the slots allocated to them. These conformity checks shall becarried out in cooperation with the managing body of the airport andwith the air traffic control authorities and shall take into account thetime and other relevant parameters relating to the airport concerned.
The coordinator shall submit on request to the Member States
concerned and to the Commission an annual activity report,concerning, in particular, the application of Articles 8a and 14, aswell as any complaints regarding the application of Articles 8 and 10submitted to the coordination committee and the steps taken to resolvethem.
7. All schedules facilitators and coordinators shall cooperate to
detect inconsistencies in schedules.
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M3 8.◄► M3 The coordinator shall on request and within a
reasonable time make available free of charge for review to interestedparties, in particular to members or observers of the coordinationcommittee, either in written form or in any other easily accessibleform, the following information: ◄1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 6
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(a) historical slots by airline, chronologically, for all air carriers at the
airport,
(b) requested slots (initial submissions), by air carriers and chronologi-
cally, for all air carriers,
(c) all allocated slots, and outstanding slot requests, listed individually
in chronologcial order, by air carriers, for all air carriers,
(d) remaining available slots,
(e) full details on the criteria being used in the allocation.
9. The information referred to in paragraph 8 shall be made avail-
able at the latest at the time of the relevant scheduling conferencesand as appropriate during the conferences and thereafter. On request,the coordinator shall provide such information in a summarised format.A cost-related fee may be charged for the provision of such
summarised information.
10. Where relevant and generally accepted schedules information
standards are available, the schedules facilitator, the coordinator andthe air carriers shall apply them provided that they comply withCommunity law.
Article 5
Coordination committee
1. At a coordinated airport, the Member State responsible shall
ensure that a coordination committee is set up. The same coordinationcommittee may be designated for more than one airport. Membership
of this committee shall be open at least to the air carriers using the
airport(s) in question regularly and their representative organisations,the managing body of the airport concerned, the relevant air trafficcontrol authorities and the representatives of general aviation usingthe airport regularly.
The tasks of the coordination committee shall be:
(a) to make proposals concerning or advise the coordinator and/or the
Member State on:
— the possibilities for increasing the capacity of the airport deter-
mined in accordance with Article 3 or for improving its usage;
— the coordination parameters to be determined in accordance
with Article 6;
— the methods of monitoring the use of allocated slots;— local guidelines for the allocation of slots or the monitoring of
the use of allocated slots, taking into account, inter alia,possible environmental concerns, as provided for in Article8(5);
— improvements to traffic conditions prevailing at the airport in
question;
— serious problems encountered by new entrants, as provided for
in Article 10(9);
— all questions relating to the capacity of the airport;
(b) to mediate between all parties concerned on complaints on the allo-
cation of slots, as provided for in Article 11.
2. Member State representatives and the coordinator shall be invited
to the meetings of the coordination committee as observers.
3. The coordination committee shall draw up written rules of proce-
dure covering, inter alia participation, elections, the frequency of
meetings, and language(s) used. Any member of the coordination
committee may propose local guidelines as provided for in Article8(5). At the request of the coordinator, the coordination committeeshall discuss suggested local guidelines for the allocation of slots aswell as those suggested for the monitoring of the use of allocated slots.A report of the discussions in the coordination committee shall be1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 7
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submitted to the Member State concerned with an indication of the
respective positions stated within the committee.
Article 6
Coordination parameters
1. At a coordinated airport the Member State responsible shall
ensure the determination of the parameters for slot allocation twiceyearly, while taking account of all relevant technical, operational andenvironmental constraints as well as any changes thereto.
This exercise shall be based on an objective analysis of the possibilities
of accommodating the air traffic, taking into account the different types
of traffic at the airport, the airspace congestion likely to occur duringthe coordination period and the capacity situation.
The parameters shall be communicated to the airport coordinator in
good time before the initial slot allocation takes place for the purposeof scheduling conferences.
2. For the purpose of the exercise referred to in paragraph 1, where
the Member State does not do so, the coordinator shall define relevantcoordination time intervals after consultation of the coordinationcommittee and in conformity with the established capacity.
3. The determination of the parameters and the methodology used as
well as any changes thereto shall be discussed in detail within the coor-
dination committee with a view to increasing the capacity and number
of slots available for allocation, before a final decision on the para-meters for slot allocation is taken. All relevant documents shall bemade available on request to interested parties.
Article 7
Information for schedules facilitators and coordinators
1. Air carriers operating or intending to operate at a schedules facili-
tated or coordinated airport shall submit to the schedules facilitator or
coordinator respectively all relevant information requested by them. Allrelevant information shall be provided in the format and within thetime-limit specified by the schedules facilitator or coordinator. In parti-cular, an air carrier shall inform the coordinator, at the time of the
request for allocation, whether it would benefit from the status of new
entrant, in accordance with Article 2(b), in respect of requested slots.
For all other airports with no particular designation status, the mana-
ging body of the airport shall provide, when requested by acoordinator, any information in its possession about the plannedservices of air carriers.
2. Where an air carrier fails to provide the information referred to in
paragraph 1, unless it can satisfactorily demonstrate that mitigatingcircumstances exist, or provides false or misleading information, thecoordinator shall not take into consideration the slot request or requestsby that air carrier to which the missing, false or misleading informationrelates. The coordinator shall give that air carrier the opportunity to
submit its observations.
3. The schedules facilitator or the coordinator, the managing body of
the airport and the air traffic control authorities shall exchange all theinformation they require for the exercise of their respective duties,including flight data and slots.
Article 8
Process of slot allocation
1. Series of slots are allocated from the slot pool to applicant
carriers as permissions to use the airport infrastructure for the purposeof landing or take-off for the scheduling period for which they arerequested, at the expiry of which they have to be returned to the slotpool as set up according to the provisions of Article 10.1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 8
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2. Without prejudice to Articles 7, 8a, 9, 10(1) and 14, paragraph (1)
of this Article shall not apply when the following conditions are satis-fied:
— a series of slots has been used by an air carrier for the operation of
scheduled and programmed non-scheduled air services, and
— that air carrier can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the coordinator
that the series of slots in question has been operated, as cleared bythe coordinator, by that air carrier for at least 80 % of the timeduring the scheduling period for which it has been allocated.
In such case that series of slots shall entitle the air carrier concerned to
the same series of slots in the next equivalent scheduling period, ifrequested by that air carrier within the time-limit referred to in Article
7(1).
3. Without prejudice to Article 10(2), in a situation where all slot
requests cannot be accommodated to the satisfaction of the air carriers
concerned, preference shall be given to commercial air services and inparticular to scheduled services and programmed non-scheduled airservices. In the case of competing requests within the same categoryof services, priority shall be given for year round operations.
4. Re-timing of series of slots before the allocation of the remaining
slots from the pool referred to in Article 10 to the other applicant air
carriers shall be accepted only for operational reasons or if slot timings
of applicant air carriers would be improved in relation to the timingsinitially requested. It shall not take effect prior to the express confirma-tion by the coordinator.
5. The coordinator shall also take into account additional rules and
guidelines established by the air transport industry world-wide orCommunity-wide as well as local guidelines proposed by the coordina-tion committee and approved by the Member State or any other
competent body responsible for the airport in question, provided that
such rules and guidelines do not affect the independent status of thecoordinator, comply with Community law and aim at improving theefficient use of airport capacity. These rules shall be communicatedby the Member State in question to the Commission.
6. If a requested slot cannot be accommodated, the coordinator shall
inform the requesting air carrier of the reasons therefor and shall indi-
cate the nearest available alternative slot.
7. The coordinator shall, in addition to the planned slot allocation
for the scheduling period, endeavour to accommodate single slot
requests with short notice for any type of aviation, including generalaviation. To this end, slots remaining in the pool referred to in Article10 after distribution among the applicant carriers and slots available atshort notice may be used.
Article 8a
Slot mobility
1. Slots may be:
(a) transferred by an air carrier from one route or type of service to
another route or type of service operated by that same air carrier;
(b) transferred:
(i) between parent and subsidiary companies, and between subsi-
diaries of the same parent company,
(ii) as part of the acquisition of control over the capital of an air
carrier,
(iii) in the case of a total or partial take-over when the slots are
directly related to the air carrier taken over;
(c) exchanged, one for one, between air carriers.
2. The transfers or exchanges referred to in paragraph 1 shall be
notified to the coordinator and shall not take effect prior to the expressconfirmation by the coordinator. The coordinator shall decline to1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 9
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confirm the transfers or exchanges if they are not in conformity with
the requirements of this Regulation and if the coordinator is not satis-fied that:
(a) airport operations would not be prejudiced, taking into account all
technical, operational and environmental constraints;
(b) limitations imposed according to Article 9 are respected;
(c) a transfer of slots does not fall within the scope of paragraph 3.
3. (a) Slots allocated to a new entrant as defined in Article 2(b) may
not be transferred as provided for in paragraph 1(b) of this
Article for a period of two equivalent scheduling periods, except
in the case of a legally authorised takeover of the activities of abankrupt undertaking.
(b) Slots allocated to a new entrant as defined in Article 2(b)(ii) and
(iii) may not be transferred to another route as provided for inparagraph 1(a) of this Article for a period of two equivalent
scheduling periods unless the new entrant would have been
treated with the same priority on the new route as on the initialroute.
(c) Slots allocated to a new entrant as defined in Article 2(b) may
not be exchanged as provided for in paragraph 1(c) of thisArticle for a period of two equivalent scheduling periods, except
in order to improve the slot timings for these services in relation
to the timings initially requested.
Article 8b
Exclusion of compensation claims
The entitlement to series of slots referred to in Article 8(2) shall not
give rise to any claims for compensation in respect of any limitation,restriction or elimination thereof imposed under Community law, inparticular in application of the rules of the Treaty relating to air trans-port. This Regulation shall not affect the powers of public authorities to
require the transfer of slots between air carriers and to direct how these
are allocated pursuant to national competition law or to Articles 81 or82 of the Treaty or Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 of 21December 1989 on the control of concentrations between undertak-ings (
1). These transfers can only take place without monetary
compensation.
Article 9
Public service obligations
1. Where public service obligations have been imposed on a route in
accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92, a MemberState may reserve at a coordinated airport the slots required for theoperations envisaged on that route. If the reserved slots on the routeconcerned are not used, they shall be made available to any other aircarrier interested in operating the route in accordance with the public
service obligations, subject to paragraph 2. If no other carrier is inter-
ested in operating the route and the Member State concerned does notissue a call for tenders under Article 4(1)(d) of Regulation (EEC) No2408/92, the slots shall either be reserved for another route subject topublic service obligations or be returned to the pool.
2. The tender procedure established in Article 4(1)(d) to (g) and
4(1)(i) of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 shall be applied for the useof the slots referred to in paragraph 1 above if more than one Commu-
nity air carrier is interested in serving the route and has not been able
to obtain slots within one hour before or after the times requested fromthe coordinator.1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 10
(1) OJ L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC)
No 1310/97 (OJ L 180, 9.7.1997, p. 1).
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Article 10
Slot pool
1. The coordinator shall set up a pool, which shall contain all the
slots not allocated on the basis of Article 8(2) and 8(4). All new slot
capacity determined pursuant to Article 3(3) shall be placed in thepool.
2. A series of slots that has been allocated to an air carrier for the
operation of a scheduled or a programmed non-scheduled air serviceshall not entitle that air carrier to the same series of slots in the nextequivalent scheduling period if the air carrier cannot demonstrate tothe satisfaction of the coordinator that they have been operated, ascleared by the coordinator, by that air carrier for at least 80 % of the
time during the scheduling period for which they have been allocated.
3. Slots allocated to an air carrier before 31 January for the
following summer season, or before 31 August for the following winter
season, but which are returned to the coordinator for reallocation
before those dates shall not be taken into account for the purposes ofthe usage calculation.
4. If the 80 % usage of the series of slots cannot be demonstrated,
all the slots constituting that series shall be placed in the slot pool,unless the non-utilisation can be justified on the basis of any of thefollowing reasons:
(a) unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances outside the air
carrier's control leading to:
— grounding of the aircraft type generally used for the air service
in question;
— closure of an airport or airspace;
— serious disturbance of operations at the airports concerned,
including those series of slots at other Community airportsrelated to routes which have been affected by such disturbance,during a substantial part of the relevant scheduling period;
(b) interruption of air services due to action intended to affect these
services which makes it practically and/or technically impossible
for the air carrier to carry out operations as planned;
(c) serious financial damage for a Community air carrier concerned,
with, as a result, the granting of a temporary license by the licen-sing authorities pending financial reorganisation of the air carrier inaccordance with Article 5(5) of Regulation (EEC) No 2407/92;
(d) judicial proceedings concerning the application of Article 9 for
routes where public service obligations have been imposed
according to Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 resultingin the temporary suspension of the operation of such routes.
5. At the request of a Member State or on its own initiative the
Commission shall examine the application of paragraph 4 by the coor-dinator of an airport falling within the scope of this Regulation.
It shall take a decision within two months of receipt of the request in
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(2).
6. Without prejudice to Article 8(2) of this Regulation and without
prejudice to Article 8(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92, slots placed
in the pool shall be distributed among applicant air carriers. 50 % ofthese slots shall first be allocated to new entrants unless requests bynew entrants are less than 50 %. The coordinator shall treat therequests of new entrants and other carriers fairly, in accordance withthe coordination periods of each scheduling day.
Among requests from new entrants, preference shall be given to air
carriers qualifying for new entrant status under both Article 2(b)(i)and (ii) or Article 2(b)(i) and (iii).
7. A new entrant which has been offered a series of slots within one
hour before or after the time requested but has not accepted this offershall not retain its new entrant status for that scheduling period.1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 11
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8. In the case of services operated by a group of air carriers, only
one of the participating air carriers can apply for the required slots.The air carrier operating such a service assumes responsibility for
meeting the operating criteria required to maintain historical prece-
dence referred to in Article 8(2).
Slots allocated to one air carrier may be used by (an)other air carrier(s)
participating in a joint operation, provided that the designator code ofthe air carrier to whom the slots are allocated remains on the sharedflight for coordination and monitoring purposes. Upon discontinuationof such operations, the slots so used will remain with the air carrier towhom they were initially allocated. Air carriers involved in shared
operations shall advise coordinators of the detail of such operations
prior to the beginning of such operations.
9. If serious problems continue to exist for new entrants, the
Member State shall ensure that a meeting of the airport coordinationcommittee is convened. The purpose of the meeting shall be toexamine possibilities for remedying the situation. The Commissionshall be invited to that meeting.
Article 10a
The events of 11 September 2001
For the purposes of Article 10(3), coordinators shall accept that air
carriers are entitled to the same series of slots during summer sche-duling season 2002 and winter scheduling season 2002/2003 as had
been allocated to them on the date of 11 September 2001 for the
summer scheduling season 2001 and the winter scheduling season2001/2002 respectively.
Article 10b
For the purpose of Article 10(3), coordinators shall accept that air
carriers are entitled to the same series of slots during the summer
2004 scheduling season as were allocated to them during the summer
2003 scheduling season.
Article 11
Complaints and rights of appeal
1. Without prejudice to rights of appeal under national law,
complaints regarding the application of Articles 7(2), 8, 8a, 10 and14(1) to (4) and (6) shall be submitted to the coordination committee.The committee shall, within a period of one month following submis-sion of the complaint, consider the matter and if possible makeproposals to the coordinator in an attempt to resolve the problem. If
the complaint cannot be settled, the Member State responsible may,
within a further two month period, provide for mediation by an aircarriers' or airports' representative organisation or other third party.
Article 12
Relations with third countries
1. Whenever it appears that, with respect to the allocation and use of
slots at its airports, a third country:
(a) does not grant Community air carriers treatment comparable to that
granted by this Regulation to air carriers from that country, or
(b) does not grant Community air carriers de facto national treatment,
or
(c) grants air carriers from other third countries more favourable treat-
ment than Community air carriers,1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 12
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the Commission may, in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 13(2), decide that a Member State or Member States shall takemeasures, including the suspension in whole or in part of the applica-
tion of this Regulation in respect of an air carrier or air carriers of that
third country with a view to remedying the discriminatory behaviour ofthe third country concerned.
2. Member States shall inform the Commission of any serious diffi-
culties encountered, in law or in fact, by Community air carriers in
obtaining slots at airports in third countries.
Article 13
Committee procedure
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee.
2. Where reference is made to this paragraph Articles 5 and 7 of
Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the proce-
dures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred to the
Commission (
1) shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article
8 thereof.
The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be
set at three months.
3. The committee may also be consulted by the Commission on any
other matter concerning application of this Regulation.
4. The committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 14
Enforcement
1. An air carrier's flight plan may be rejected by the competent Air
Traffic Management authorities if the air carrier intends to land or take
off at a coordinated airport, during the periods for which it is coordi-
nated, without having a slot allocated by the coordinator.
2. The coordinator shall withdraw the series of slots provisionally
allocated to an air carrier in the process of establishing itself and place
them in the pool on 31 January for the following summer season or on
31 August for the following winter season if the undertaking does nothold an operating licence or equivalent on that date or if it is not statedby the competent licensing authority that it is likely that an operatinglicence or equivalent will be issued before the relevant scheduling
period commences.
3. The coordinator shall withdraw and place in the pool the series of
slots of an air carrier, which it has received following an exchangepursuant to Article 8a(1)(c) if they have not been used as intended.
4. Air carriers that repeatedly and intentionally operate air services
at a time significantly different from the allocated slot as part of aseries of slots or uses slots in a significantly different way from thatindicated at the time of allocation and thereby cause prejudice to
airport or air traffic operations shall lose their status as referred to in
Article 8(2). The coordinator may decide to withdraw from that aircarrier the series of slots in question for the remainder of the sche-duling period and place them in the pool after having heard the aircarrier concerned and after issuing a single warning.
6. (a) Without prejudice to Article 10(4), if the 80 % usage rate as
defined in Article 8(2) cannot be achieved by an air carrier, thecoordinator may decide to withdraw from that air carrier theseries of slots in question for the remainder of the scheduling1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 13
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period and place them in the pool after having heard the air
carrier concerned.
(b) Without prejudice to Article 10(4), if after an allotted time
corresponding to 20 % of the period of the series validity noslots of that series of slots have been used, the coordinator shallplace the series of slots in question in the pool for the remainderof the scheduling period, after having heard the air carrier
concerned.
Article 14a
Report and cooperation
1. The Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament
and the Council on the operation of this Regulation at the latest threeyears after its entry into force. The report shall address in particular thefunctioning of Articles 8, 8a and 10.
2. Member States and the Commission shall cooperate in the appli-
cation of this Regulation, particularly as regards the collection ofinformation for the report mentioned in paragraph 1.
Article 15
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the thirtieth day following that
of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1993R0095 — EN — 30.07.2004 — 003.001 — 14
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