Draft Airports Slot Allocation (Alleviation of Usage Requirements) Regulations 2023

Jesse Norman Excerpts

Tuesday 28th February 2023 General Committees

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Jesse Norman)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Airports Slot Allocation (Alleviation of Usage Requirements) Regulations 2023.

It is a delight to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. As the Committee will be aware, these regulations are extremely technical, and the instrument is merely the latest update to a set of regulations. In this case, the regulations are made under powers conferred by the Air Traffic Management and Unmanned Aircraft Act 2021. Following this country’s departure from the European Union, the legislation created a more flexible set of powers for Ministers to implement alleviation measures for airport slots related to the impact of covid-19, subject to a vote in both Houses, so that the Government are able to adapt their approach to support the recovery of the aviation sector.

In normal circumstances, airlines must operate their airport slots 80% of the time to retain the right to have those slots the following year; it is known as the 80:20 rule, or alternatively the “use it or lose it” rule, and it encourages the efficient use of scarce airport capacity. As a result of the impact of covid-19 on air travel demand, alleviation of that rule has been provided since the summer 2020 season.

The Department has seen a promising recovery in passenger demand during 2022 and the early part of 2023, but continued uncertainty remains in the industry and demand remains below the levels seen before the pandemic, which is affecting some routes more than others. The Department has therefore designed a package of measures for the summer 2023 season that sees a return to the normal 80:20 rule on slots usage to encourage efficient slot use, but combined with flexibility to help to manage the remaining uncertainty.

In this instrument, the Government have focused measures on a return to business as usual. It includes measures to protect connectivity to destinations where restrictions might be reintroduced during the season and flexibility to reduce the risk of disruption to airports, including restoring the 80:20 usage rule and adding to flexibilities as required. The measures will cover the 2023 season, and the Department is considering whether further alleviation is likely to be justified for the winter 2023 season. We will consult with industry and interested MPs to inform Government policy later this year. I commend the instrument to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jesse Norman]

I thank colleagues for their comments. I was delighted that the hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East brought his trademark intellectual clarity and sense of history to his remarks; that was extremely well taken. I loved the reference to our relationship with Portugal in the 14th century and I congratulate him on the amount of time he is spending with the “The Rest is History” podcast. I also thank him for supporting the Government on this instrument. He tweaks me on the issue of continuity of Ministers, but let me remind him that this is a repeat gig for me, although not necessarily on aviation; we try to make up with repetition what we may have lost in continuity.

The hon. Gentleman asked about retrospective impact, as did the hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, and they are right to flag that concern. The hon. Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East is also right that a formal impact assessment was not prepared for the instrument because it will have effect for less than 12 months, although an explanatory memorandum has been published with it. We all wish that we could return to normal and I welcome his appetite for non-intervention. We will continue to monitor impacts as we go, but the formal provision remains as it is.

The hon. Gentleman said it was a pity that the Government could not have intervened more during the covid period, but he will recall that the flexibilities we are now exploiting are precisely because we were able to exit the EU regulations relating to this sector. There was a much more blanket response that we undertook under EU law during the period, as he will recall from having been in his role, so there is now flexibility as a result of exiting those regulations.

On the question of the former Flybe slots that arose from the takeover of BMI originally by British Airways, while I do not want to comment on Loganair’s situation, they have reverted and are formally subject to the competition rules as applied previously. If the hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North would like to have a further conversation, I encourage him to take it up with my colleague. In this case, the Aviation Minister is Baroness Vere, so she would be the right person to talk to; I am merely her avatar in the House of Commons.

Question put and agreed to.