Sydney Airport Announces Major Airport Slot Reforms
The Australian Government has announced a package of reforms aimed to address Aircraft slot restraints, and capacity and demand issues at Sydney Airport.
Currently, slot management at Sydney Airport is governed by the Sydney Airport Demand Management Act 1997 (the Act) and associated legislative instruments, i.e. the Sydney Airport Compliance Scheme 2012 (the Compliance Scheme) and the Sydney Airport Slot Management Scheme 2013 (the Slot Management Scheme). Sydney Airport is the only airport nationally to have its own legislation for slot management, rather than adopting the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG).
Following the announcement on 21 February 2024, and in anticipation of the Aviation White Paper to be released later this year, it appears that these major reforms will be introduced to improve Sydney Airport’s demand management scheme and better align the airport with the WASG.
The most significant reform is the new ‘recovery period’ to be implemented after severe weather events or other major disruptions. A recovery period will temporarily allow up to 85 movements per hour, up from 80, for a maximum of two hours on the same day as the disruption. The recovery period will now enable late flights to depart on the same day rather than being restricted by the daily movement cap, addressing key issues including cancellations and delays, both daily and overnight. Importantly, recovery periods will not affect curfew hours.
Another key feature of this reform package is a significant increase in transparency regarding slot allocation. Airlines will now be required to provide regular information about how slots are used and reasons for any cancellations or delays, which will be published and publicly available. This system is supported by the introduction of independent slot usage audits and penalties, commencing in 2024, to crackdown on anti-competitive behaviour.
Peak period hours for New South Wales regional services will be changed from 6-11am/3-8pm to 7-11am/5-8pm. During these hours, regional services can now apply to use any slot, rather than being limited to the priority slots set aside for regional services. The Slot Manager is also required to consider giving priority to regional NSW airlines requesting these peak period slots.
Finally, new entrant airlines can hope to benefit from a more level playing field facilitated by amendments to the slot allocation process at Sydney Airport, with the government focusing on improving efficiency and competition.
Ben Martin
Partner
T: + 61 2 9230 9435
E: ben.martin@nortonwhite.com
Address: Level 4, 66 Hunter Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Alison McKenzie
Partner
T: +61 4 3892 9004
E: alison.mckenzie@nortonwhite.com
Address: Level 13, 459 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Renay Sumercan
Lawyer
T: + 61 3 9119 2535
E: renay.sumercan@nortonwhite.com
Address: Level 13, 459 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000