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

Graham Stringer Excerpts

Tuesday 19th October 2021 General Committees

[Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton) (Lab)]

The Minister is talking about the potential commercial impact of not making the changes in the regulations. Unfortunately, the statutory instrument is not accompanied by a regulatory impact statement because, according to the explanatory note, the proposals are expected to last for less than a year. When one reads the amendment to article 2 of Council Regulation No. 95/93 in sub-paragraph (4) (b) it refers to November 2023, which is more than 12 months. Can the Minister explain that discrepancy?

[The Chair]

May I inform the Committee that I will call other Members to speak after the Minister and the Opposition spokesperson if anyone wants to elaborate on the matter? I am just making the point to keep interventions short.

--- Later in debate ---

[Robert Courts]

The reason is that aerodromes are a devolved matter in relation to Northern Ireland. There are also no co-ordinated slot airports in Northern Ireland, so the Northern Ireland Executive have agreed that it was not necessary for the powers of the 2021 Act to extend to, or apply in relation to, Northern Ireland.

I am conscious that I promised to respond to the query from the hon. Member for Blackley and Broughton.

[Graham Stringer]

The Minister is seeking inspiration.

[The Chair]

It has flown over.

--- Later in debate ---

[Graham Stringer]

It is a pleasure to be here this early on Tuesday morning to talk about airport slot allocation. I would like to use the opportunity to ask the Minister a number of questions.

I have no quarrel with the principle behind the regulations. It is sensible to take account of the fact that the world has been different over the past 18 months because of covid, and we do not want to damage or ruin an industry that provides so many jobs. In that sense it is a pity that there is no regulatory impact assessment accompanying the regulations, because important issues lie behind them. Even after the Minister was inspired to reply to my earlier intervention, I did not understand his response. I should say that I made a mistake in referring to the change in sub-paragraph (4)(b) and that the scheduling period runs until March 2023, which is considerably more than 12 months. I believe that on its own that means that a regulatory impact assessment was required. Other issues in themselves, however, require an answer.

Airlines want to monopolise slots not only because that means they can carry out their business but because of their value. There is a grey market in the trading of airport slots. A regulatory impact assessment may have been able to provide an answer as to who own those slots. Do the airlines own them? They assume that they do. What is the assumption? Clearly, airports lay down the tarmac for the runways and they have an interest in that, but it is not clear from the notes provided that the airports were consulted. If they were not consulted, why not? What will be the impact of the proposed regulations on the grey market in trading air slots? It is an obscure but very important issue. Some years ago, when I served with the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle on the Transport Committee, the slots were changing hands for at least £20 million a time. Given that the period in question will be extended for more than 12 months, those commercial interests should have been accounted for. What will be the impact of the proposed changes?

There is nothing in the notes that justifies the reduction from 80% to 50% in respect of retaining rights. It may well be a sensible measure. As far as I can tell from the notes, it is based on a reduction in flights that has occurred over time, but there has been a huge change within the last couple of weeks to where we can fly to, and where people can fly into this country from. It is likely that people will be able to fly into this country from the United States in two or three weeks. What will that do to the percentages that are proposed in these changed regulations? In a normal competitive environment, one would want them to be as high as possible, to stop the misuse of what are effectively anti-competitive grandfather rights. What account has been taken of the greater freedoms that we all now have to fly to and from this country?

Although I do not think that there is anything wrong in principle with what the Government and the Minister are suggesting, the detail is quite simply unjustified. It is unjustified because there is no regulatory impact assessment. These are important matters that relate to the commercial operation of airlines in this country, and of airports. I would be grateful if the Minister could reply to the questions and to the general points that I have made.