CELEX: 51992PC0257
Language: en
Date: 1992-06-26
Title: Amendment to the proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) on common rules for the allocation of slots at Community airports

13 . 8 . 92                                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                No C 206 / 57
                Amendment to die proposal for a Council Regulation on common rules for the allocation of slots at
                                                            Community airports
                                                              ( 92 / C 206 / 07
                                                            COM(92) 257 final
                (Submitted by the Commission on 29 June 1992 pursuant to Article 149 (3) of the EEC Treaty)
                        COMMISSION TEXT ( • )                                                        AMENDMENTS
                                                             Amendment No 1
                                Title                                                                     Title
 Proposal for a Council Regulation on common rules for the                 Proposal for a Council Regulation on common rules for the
           allocation of slots at Community airports                          allocation of slots at coordinated Community airports
                                                             Amendment No 2
                            First recital                                                            First recital
 Whereas there is a growing imbalance between the expansion               Whereas there is a growing imbalance between the expansion
 of the air transport system in Europe and the availability of            of the air transport system in Europe and the availability of
 adequate airport infrastructure to meet that demand;                      adequate airport infrastructure to meet that demand;
 whereas there is , as a consequence, an increasing number of             whereas there are indications that there will be, as a
 congested airports in the Community;                                     consequence, an increasing number of congested airports in
                                                                          the Community ;
                                                             Amendment No 3
                           Third recital                                                            Third recital
 Whereas the requirement of neutrality is best guaranteed                 Whereas the requirement of neutrality is best guaranteed
 when the decision to coordinate an airport is taken by the               when the decision to designate an airport as coordinated is
 Member State responsible for that airport on the basis of                taken by the Member State responsible for that airport on the
 objective criteria;                                                      basis of objective criteria;
                                                            Amendment No 4
                                                                                          New recital after third recital
                                                                          Whereas this regulation applies only to airports falling within
                                                                          the specific definition of coordinated in Article 2;
                                                            Amendment No 5
                                                                                                  Fourth recital a
                                                                                                        ( new)
                                                                          Whereas the Commission should study the reasons for
                                                                          congestion at European airports with a view to finding ways
                                                                          and means to increase capacity;
(>) OJ No C 43 , 19 . 2. 1991 , p. 3 .
 ---pagebreak--- No C 206 / 58                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                    13 . 8 . 92
                       COMMISSION TEXT                                                        AMENDMENTS
                                                        Amendment No 6
                                                                                            Fourth recital b
                                                                                                  ( new )
                                                                    Whereas the Member State Governments and airport
                                                                    authorities should consider increasing their airport
                                                                    infrastructure expenditure so as to increase the capacity of
                                                                    European airports;
                                                        Amendment No 7
                         Ninth recital                                                        Ninth recital
Whereas it is Community policy to lower barriers to                 Whereas it is Community policy to lower barriers to
competition and to encourage entrance into the market, as           competition and to encourage entrance into the market, as
provided for in Regulation (EEC ) No 2343 / 90 and whereas          provided for in Regulation (EEC ) No 2343 / 90 and whereas
these objectives require strong support for carriers who            these objectives require strong support for carriers who
intend to start operations on intra-Community routes with           intend to start operations on routes with limited
limited competition ;                                               competition ;
                                                        Amendment No 8
                         Tenth recital                                                        Tenth recital
Whereas it is necessary to require Member States or their           Whereas it is necessary to require Member States or their
appointees to ensure that a minimum number of slots are             appointees to ensure that a number of slots are also available,
available for operations on intra-Community routes even             even where an airport is held to be congested, for the smaller
where an airport is held to be congested;                           carriers , business aviation and general aviation as well as for
                                                                    new entrants ;
                                                        Amendment No 9
                        Eleventh recital                                                    Eleventh recital
Whereas any withdrawal of grandfather rights should respect         Whereas any withdrawal of grandfather rights is only
the principle of proportionality and should therefore be            acceptable in exceptional situations where no other solution
limited to the number of slots necessary to meet the needs of       can be found and should respect the principle of
new entrants at the airport in question, while ensuring that        proportionality and should therefore be limited to the
all incumbent carriers at that airport are treated in a             number of slots necessary to meet the needs of new entrants
comparable manner, taking into account the number of slots          at the airport in question, while ensuring that all incumbent
used by each , and avoiding unnecessary disturbances of             carriers at that airport are treated in a comparable manner,
existing arrangements;                                              taking into account the number of slots used by each ,
                                                                    and avoiding unnecessary disturbances of existing
                                                                    arrangements ;
                                                       Amendment No 10
                      Fourteenth recital                                                   Fourteenth recital
Whereas it is appropriate for the Comunity to offer new             Whereas it is appropriate for the Community to offer air
entrant   air  carriers   from   third   countries  treatment       carriers from third countries treatment comparable to that
comparable to that offered by those countries to Community          offered to Community air carriers, provided that those
air carriers ;                                                      countries offer Community carriers such treatment at their
                                                                    own airports;
 ---pagebreak---  13 . 8 . 92                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 206 / 59
                         COMMISSION TEXT                                                          AMENDMENTS
                                                            Amendment No 1 1
                         Fifteenth recital                                                     Fifteenth recital
Whereas the adoption of a Regulation for the allocation of             Whereas the adoption of a Regulation for the allocation of
 slots at Community airports should not have a negative effect         slots at Community airports should not have a negative effect
on the operations of small air carriers,                               on the operations of small air carriers or general aviation,
                                                            Amendment No 12
                             Article 1                                                             Article 1
This Regulation shall apply to the allocation of slots at              This Regulation shall apply to the allocation of slots at
Community airports .                                                   coordinated Community airports.
                                                           Amendment No 13
                          Article 2 (b)                                                          Article 2 (b)
(b) new entrant means an air carrier:                                  (b) new entrant means an air carrier which :
        (i) not holding more than three slots on any day at a                (i) does not hold more than four slots on any day at a
            coordinated airport and requesting further slots for                  coordinated airport and is requesting further slots
            services on that day ; or                                             for services on that day; or
       (ii) not holding more than 30 % of slots held by all air             (ii) does not hold more than 30 % of all slots on a day
            carriers on a day at a coordinated airport or at                      at a coordinated airport or at another airport in the
            another airport in the same airport system and                        same airport system and is requesting further slots
            requesting further slots at that airport during that                  at that airport during that day to commence a
            day to commence services falling within the scope                     service on a route on which at most two other air
            of Regulation (EEC) 2343 / 90 on a route on which                     carriers exercise traffic rights between the airports
            at most two other air carriers are exercising third or                concerned during that day;
            fourth freedem traffic rights between the airports
            concerned during that day ;
                                                           Amendment Nb 14
                                                                               i
                                                                         i
                          Article 2 (c)                                                          Article 2 (c)
(c) 'congested airport' means an airport where the capacity           (c) 'congested airport' means an airport where:
      for more than one hour on any day does not meet the
      demand or forecast demand;                                            (i) there are delays of more than one hour to published
                                                                                 operating schedules on more than 75% of
                                                                                 incoming and outgoing flights , for more than one
                                                                                 hour of the day, on any day of the week, during at
                                                                                 least 50 % of a scheduling period;
                                                                                 or
                                                                           (ii) for more than one hour on any day the capacity in
                                                                                 any of the following areas — ATC, runways, other
                                                                                 ground facilities including access, environmental
                                                                                 restrictions — does not meet the demand or forecast
                                                                                 demand;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 206 / 60                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                        13 . 8 . 92
                         COMMISSION TEXT                                                         AMENDMENTS
                                                             Amendment No 15
                            Article 2 (f)                                                        Article 2 (f)
(f) 'coordinated airport' means an airport where, in order to          ( f) 'coordinated airport' means a congested airport
     land or take off, it is necessary for an air carrier to have a          designated as coordinated where , in order to land or take
     slot allocated by an airport coordinator ;                              off, it is necessary for an air carrier to have a slot
                                                                             allocated by an airport coordinator;
                                                             Amendment No 16
                            Article 2 (h)                                                        Article 2 (h)
(h ) 'historical precedence' means a slot that has been                ( h ) 'historical precedence' means a slot that has been
     operated by an air carrier as cleared by the coordinator                operated by an air carrier as cleared by the coordinator
     and which entitles that airline to the same slot in the next            and which entitles that air carrier to the same slot in the
     equivalent season .                                                     next equivalent season .
                                                             Amendment No 17
                            Article 3 (1 )                                                       Article 3 (1 )
1.     Member States shall permit air carriers with a valid             1.     Member States shall permit air carriers with a valid
route licence to freely schedule and operate their services to         appropriate licence to freely schedule and operate their
and from Community airports which are not coordinated in               services to and from Community airports which are not
accordance with Article 4 .                                            coordinated in accordance with Article 4 .
                                                             Amendment No 18
                            Article 5 (2)                                                       Article 6 (2) (')
2.     The coordinator shall be responsible for the allocation         2.      The coordinator shall be responsible for advising the
of slots at the coordinated airport(s) and shall act in                 scheduling committee(s ) and for the allocation of slots,
accordance with this Regulation in a neutral ,                         taking into account the general guidelines laid down by the
nondiscrminatory and transparent way .                                  scheduling committee , at the coordinated airport(s) and shall
                                                                        act in accordance with this Regulation in a neutral ,
                                                                        nondiscriminatory and transparent way in accordance with
                                                                        the applicable rules of Community competition law .
                                                             Amendment No 19
                         Article 5 (5) (a)                                                      Article 5 (5) (a)
 5.    The coordinator shall at any time make available for             5.     The coordinator shall at any time make available for
review to all interested parties the following information:             review to all interested parties the following information :
                                                                        (') Article 5 of the Commission text becomes Article 6 .
 ---pagebreak--- 13 . 8 . 92                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 206 / 61
                          COMMISSION TEXT                                                          AMENDMENTS
( a ) historical slots by airline, chronologically , for all air       (a ) historical slots by air carrier, chronologically, for all air
      carriers at the airport,                                               carriers at the airport ,
                                                           Amendment No 20
                              Article 6                                                            Article 5 (M
When a Member State has decided to designate an airport as             When a Member State has designated an airport as
coordinated according to Article 4(1 ) and ( 2), it may set up a       coordinated according to Article 4 , it shall set up a
scheduling committee that will assist, in a consultative               scheduling committee in accordance with the applicable rules
capacity, the coordinator referred to in Article 5 .                   of Community competition law to lay down general
Participation in this committee shall at least be open to the air      guidelines for the allocation of slots in each scheduling period
carriers using the airport(s) repeatedly , the airport                 and to supervise the work of the coordinator. This committee
authorities concerned and representatives of the air traffic           shall meet at least twice a year . Participation in this
control .                                                              Committee shall at least be open to the air carriers using the
                                                                       airport(s) repeatedly and the airport and air traffic control
                                                                       authorities concerned .
                                                           Amendment No 21
                              Article 7                                                             Article 7
At a coordinated airport the airport authority in cooperation          At a coordinated airport the airport authority in cooperation
with representatives of the air traffic control , and, where           with the air traffic control , and where applicable, subject to
applicable, subject to the approval ofthe Member State, shall          the approval of the Member State , shall determine the airport
determine the Airport capacity twice yearly after                      capacity twice yearly after consultation with customs and
consultation with customs and immigration authorities and              immigration authorities and the air carriers using the airport
the airlines using the airport and / or their representative           and/ or their representative association following
association following internationally established methods .            internationally established methods . The possibilities of
The possibilities of accommodating the different types of              accommodating the different types of aviation shall be
aviation shall be examined individually .                              examined individually .
This information shall be provided to the airport coordinator          This information shall be provided to the airport coordinator
in good time before coordination takes place .                         in good time before coordination takes place .
                                                           Amendment No 22
                              Article 8                                                             Article 8
 1.      Air carriers requesting slots at a coordinated airport        1.      Air carriers requesting slots at a coordinated airport
shall submit to the airport coordinator all information                shall submit to the airport coordinator all information
requested by the airport coordinator .                                 requested by the airport coordinator.
2 . ( a ) Without prejudice to the application of Articles 85          2 . ( a) Without prejudice to the application of Articles 85
           and 86 of the Treaty and of Article 9 of this                         and 86 of the Treaty and of Article 9 of this
           Regulation , a slot that has been operated by an air                  Regulation , a slot that has been operated by an air
          carrier as cleared by the coordinator shall entitle that               carrier as cleared by the coordinator shall entitle that
           air carrier to the same slot in the equivalent period                 air carrier to claim and be allocated the same slot in
           and days of operation of the next equivalent season .                 the equivalent period and days of operation of the
          This historical precedence shall apply only to                         next equivalent season . This historical precedence
           scheduled services and programmed non-scheduled                       shall apply only to scheduled services and
           services .                                                            programmed nonscheduled services.
                                                                       (') Article 6 of the Commission text becomes Article 5 .
 ---pagebreak--- No C 206 / 62                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                       13 . 8 . 92
                         COMMISSION TEXT                                                           AMENDMENTS
    (b) In a situation where all slot requests cannot be                  (b) In a situation where all slot requests cannot be
          accommodated to the satisfaction of the air carriers                   accommodated to the satisfaction of the air carriers
          concerned, the airport coordinator shall give                          concerned , preference shall be given to commercial
          preference to commercial air services and in                           air services and in particolar scheduled services and
          particular scheduled services and programmed                           programmed nonscheduled services.
          non-scheduled services .
    (c) The airport coordinator shall also take into account              (c) The airport coordinator shall also take into account
          the additional priority rules set out in the Annex to                  the additional priority rules set out in the Annex to
          this Regulation .                                                      this Regulation .
3.     If a requested slot cannot be accommodated the airport         3.      If a requested slot cannot be accommodated the airport
coordinator shall inform the requesting airline of the reasons        coordinator shall inform the requesting air carrier of the
therefor and shall indicate the nearest alternative slot.             reasons therefor and shall indicate the nearest alternative
                                                                      slots .
4.     The airport coordinator shall, at all times, endeavour         4.      The airport coordinator shall, at all times , endeavour
to accommodate ad hoc slot requests for any type of aviation          to accommodate ad hoc slot requests for any type of aviation
including general aviation. To this end the slots available in        including general aviation . To this end the slots available in
the pool referred to in Article 9 of this Regulation but not yet      the pool referred to in Article 9 of this Regulation but not yet
allocated can be used as well as slots liberated at short             allocated can be used as well as slots liberated at short notice
notice .                                                              (casual slots).
5.     The Commission shall establish , after consultations           5.      The Commission shall establish , after consultations
with air carriers, airport coordinators, and airport                  with airport coordinators and scheduling committees,
authorities, minimum requirements for the automated                   minimum requirements for the automated systems to be used
system to be used by the airport coordinators in order to             by the airport coordinators in order to ensure the proper
ensure the proper implementation of Article 5 and 8 .                 implementation of Articles 5 , 6 and 8 .
                                                         Amendment No 23
                           Article 9 (1 )                                                         Article 9 (1 )
1 . At a coordinated airport a pool should be set up                  1.      At a coordinated airport a pool should be set up for
containing newly created slots, unused slots and slots which          each time period coordinated containing newly created slots,
have been given up by a carrier during or by the end of the           unused slots and slots which have been given up by a carrier
season .                                                              during or by the end of the season .
                                                         Amendment No 24
                           Article 9 (2)                                                          Article 9 (2)
2. Any slot not utilized more than 65 % of the allocated              2.      Any slot not utilized more than 75 % of the allocated
period can be withdrawn and placed in the slot pool referred          period can be withdrawn and placed in the slot pools referred
to in paragraph 1 for reallocation, unless the non-utilization        to in paragraph 1 for reallocation , unless the non-utilization
can be justified inter alia on the grounds of the grounding of        can be justified inter alia on the grounds of the grounding of
an aircraft type, or the closure of an airport or airspace.           an aircaraft type, or the closure of an airport or airspace.
 ---pagebreak---  13 . 8 . 92                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 206 / 63
                         COMMISSION TEXT                                                           AMENDMENTS
                                                           Amendment No 25
                            Article 9 (3)                                                          Article 9 (3)
 3 . Slots placed in the pool shall be distributed among                3.     Slots placed in the pools shall be distributed among
 applicant carriers. At least 50% of these slots shall be               applicant carriers. At least 50% of these slots shall be
 allocated to new entrants with priority in the order set out in        allocated to new entrants with priority in the order set out in
 the Annex .                                                            the Annex .
                                                           Amendment No 26
                           Article 9 (5)                                                           Article 9 (5)
 5.      The new entrants referred to in paragraph 4 are                5.     The new entrants referred to in paragraph 4 are
entitled to as many slots as are needed to meet the existing            entitled to as many slots as are needed to meet the existing
 services of the other air carrier(s) operating on that route to a      services of the other air carrier(s) operating on that route to a
maximum of six slots on any given day .                                 maximum of four slots on any given day .
                                                           Amendment No 27
                           Article 9 (8)                                                          Article 9 (8)
 8.      When the slots made available in accordance with               8.     When the slots made available in accordance with
paragraphs 2 and 4, are not used or are given up within a               paragraphs 2 and 4 , are not used or are withdrawn under
period of two years , they shall be returned to their original          paragraph 2 or are given up within a period of two years,
holder. Where this rule cannot be applied or where the                  they shall be returned to their original holder. Where this rule
original holder does not wish to use the slot, it shall be placed       cannot be applied or where the original holder does not wish
in the slot pool .                                                      to use the slot, it shall be placed in the slot pool .
                                                           Amendment No 28
                           Article 9 (9)                                                          Article 9 (9)
9.       At the request of any Member State or on its own               9.     At the request of any Member State or the third country
initiative, the Commission shall examine the application of             concerned or on its own initiative, the Commission shall
this Article in any particular case and within two months               examine the application of this Article in any particular case
decide whether it is correctly applied. The Commission shall            and within two months decide whether it is correctly applied.
communicate its decision to the Council and to the Member               The Commission shall communicate its decision to the
States .                                                                Council and to the Member States .
                                                           Amendment No 29
                          Article 10 (6)                                                          Article 10 (6)
6.      At the request of any Member State or on its own                6.     At the request of any Member State or the third country
initiative, the Commission shall examine the application of             concerned or on its own initiative, the Commission shall
paragraphs 2 and 4 in any particular case and within two                examine the application of paragraphs 2 and 4 in any
months decide whether these paragraphs are correctly                   particular case and within two months decide whether these
applied . The Commission shall communicate its decision to             paragraphs are correctly applied. The Commission shall
the Council and to the Member States .                                 communicate its decision to the Council and to the Member
                                                                       States .
 ---pagebreak--- No C 206 / 64                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                        13 . 8 . 92
                       COMMISSION TEXT                                                          AMENDMENTS
                                                        Amendment No 30
                         Article 10(7)                                                         Article 10 (7)
7.      Any Member State may refer the Commission's                 7.     Any Member State may refer the Commissions
decision to the Council within a time limit of one month . The      decision to the Council within a time limit of one month . The
Council, acting by a qualified majority , may take a different      Council, acting by a qualified majority , may take a different
decision within a period of one month .                             decision within a period of one month . The Member State
                                                                    responsible for the congested airport concerned shall ensure
                                                                    prompt application of the decision .
                                                        Amendment No 31
                                                                                               Article 11 (1 )
                                                                                                   ( new )
                                                                     1.    The Member States and the Commission shall ensure
                                                                    that this Regulation is applied without discrimination against
                                                                    air carriers from third countries .
                                                        Amendment No 32
                         Article 11 (2)                                                        Article 11 (2)
2.      Whenever it appears to the Commission , either on           2.     If a third country , with respect to the allocation of slots
the basis of information received in accordance with                at congested airports:
paragraph 1 or on the basis of other information , that a third
country , with respect to the allocation of slots at congested
airports:
( a ) does not grant Community air carriers treatment               (a) does not grant Community air carriers treatment
      comparable to that granted by Member States to air                 comparable to that granted by Member States to air
      carriers from that country; or                                     carriers from that country; or
( b) does not grant Community air carriers de facto national        (b ) does not grant Community air carriers defacto national
      treatment ; or                                                     treatment ;
(c) grants air carriers from other third countries more             (c) grants air carriers from other third countries more
      favourable treatment than Community air carriers,                  favourable treatment than Community air carriers ,
the Commission may initiate negotiations in order to remedy         the Commission may , subject to a prior decision of the
the situation .                                                     Council , initiate negotiations in order to remedy the
                                                                    situation .
                                                        Amendment No 33
                        Article 12 (1 )                                                       Article 12 (1 )
1.      The Commission shall submit a report to the Council         1.     The Commission shall submit a report to the Council
on the operation of this Regulation within two years after its      and to the European Parliament and Economic and Social
entry into force.                                                   Committee on the operation of this Regulation within two
                                                                   years after its entry into force .
 ---pagebreak---  13 . 8 . 92                                Official Journal of the European Communities                                   No C 206 / 65
                          COMMISSION TEXT                                                             AMENDMENTS
                                                             Amendment No 34
                                                                                                        ANNEX
                                                                                       Paragraph 5 , second subparagraph
                                                                                                         ( new )
                                                                       In the event of a curfew at one airport creating a slot problem
                                                                       elsewhere , priority should be given to the airline whose
                                                                       schedule is constrained by the curfew .
                                                             Amendment No 35
                              ANNEX
                          Paragraph 6 ( c)
(c) curfews — in the event of a curfew at one airport                  Deleted,
       creating a slot problem elsewhere, priority should be
       given to the airline whose schedule is constrained by the
       curfew .
                                                             Amendment No 36
                              ANNEX                                                                    ANNEX
                          Paragraph 6 ( f)                                                          Paragraph 6 ( f)
(f) flexibility — to achieve optimum utilization of the                (f) flexibility — to achieve optimum utilization of the
      available capacity. Coordinators should apply a certain               available capacity . Coordinators should apply a certain
      degree of flexibility when allocating slots . Airlines do not         degree of flexibility when allocating slots. Airlines do not
      always operate exactly to the timing published in                     always operate exactly to the timings published in
      schedules. Weather, winds, variations in flight times,                schedules . Weather, winds, variations in flight times ,
      ATC or technical problems are some of the reasons for                 ATC or technical problems are some of the reasons for
      such deviations . Coordinators should take account of                 such deviations . Coordinators should take account of
      this by :                                                            this by :
         ( i) applying runway restrictions in time intervals of at             ( i) applying runway restrictions in time intervals of at
              least 10 minutes;                                                     least 10 minutes ;
       ( ii) measuring hourly movement rates at not less                     ( ii) measuring hourly movement rates at not less
              than 30 minutes intervals (e.g. 1200-1259 +                           than 30 minutes intervals ( e.g. 1200-1259 +
              1230-1329);                                                           1230-1329 );
      (iii ) using overbooking profiles based on past                      (iii) using overbooking profiles based on past
              experience.                                                           experience;
                                                                           (iv ) creating maximum potential for using casual slots
                                                                                    for short-notice business flights if such flights are
                                                                                    ready to depart but they have been allocated a later
                                                                                    specific slot .
 ---pagebreak--- No C 206 / 66                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                  13 . 8 . 92
              COMMISSION TEXT                                                     AMENDMENTS
                                            Amendment No 37
                                                                                    ANNEX
                                                                                Paragraph 6 (g)
                                                                                     (new)
                                                         (g) Noise emissions — quieter aircraft are to be preferred to
                                                             noisier aircraft, e.g. Chapter 3 over Chapter 2 .