Draft Airports Slot Allocation (Alleviation of Usage Requirements) (No. 2) Regulations 2021

Lord Mackinlay of Richborough Excerpts

Tuesday 19th October 2021 General Committees

[Craig Mackinlay (South Thanet) (Con)]

First, I have a declaration of interest: I had a fledgling interest in an airline start-up that came to an end after 9/11 in 2001, and did not get any further.

Covid has hit this country’s aviation industry probably worse than any other. The figures across Europe put the UK’s reduction in air travel as far worse than that of any other country, and the recovery has been far slower. This is not the forum to discuss the fact that we have had some rather odd and illogical covid measures that have not applied in other countries, but which have caused the sluggish reflation of that industry.

We do not have a perfect industry or a perfect market operating with airlines and airports, because we have limited airport space. That has always been a limiting factor, so it is not the fair, complete and normal market we might expect—but thank heavens that we do have a more liberated market than in the 1970s. We could have had a candied industry in aspic following the flag carriers of various countries, and we would not have seen the rise of a multitude of low-cost carriers that has liberated all of us and enabled lower prices and a great deal more choice.

On the 50% measure that is being applied, will the Minister’s Deparment commit to looking at the load factors? They are published widely; the CAA publish these figures, and I am sure that they are at the fingertips of the Minister and his Department. Will they look at the load factors of those airlines that are using the 50% reduction in the required use of their slots to see whether they are using it for other commercial advantage, such as by getting their flights filled up to 99% or 100%, rather than to more typical pre-pandemic levels of, say, 85% or 90%, which would have been more typical? Will the Minister be looking at what these airlines are actually carrying and giving the nudge by saying, “Come on, your load factors are higher than previously; it’s time you started using these slots whose usage this legislation is allowing you to reduce.” I am fully in favour of free markets, but the flexibility and value of these slots is really quite exceptional. If airlines are not prepared to use them, they should be losing them in the longer term, so that new entrants can come in and we can all enjoy new airlines such as Wizz Air, Ryanair or EasyJet, which are a new and beneficial feature of low-cost travel for all of us.