Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee
9 June 2026
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Fourth Delegated Legislation Committee House of Commons
00:00 - 00:12
Speaker 1
Order, order. Draft Airports Slot Allocation (Alleviation of Usage Requirements) Regulations 2026. Minister to move the motion.
00:12 - 02:09
Speaker 2
Thank you, Ms. Lowen, it's a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I beg to move that the committee considers the draft Airports Slot Allocation (Alleviation of Usage Requirements) Regulations 2026. Airport slots are permissions that allow airlines to take off and land at specific dates and times. They're a valuable resource at capacity-constrained airports. The UK currently has nine such airports, including the main five London airports, as well as Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds Bradford, and Manchester.
These regulations are deemed necessary in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which continues to create disruption and uncertainty for the aviation sector. The government has therefore designed a slot hand-back measure for the summer 2026 and winter 26 seasons that allow airlines to return a proportion of their slots without losing the right to those same slots the following year. These regulations provide flexibility to manage genuine operational challenges and reduce the risk of last-minute cancellations. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has created significant disruption to aviation. Airlines are facing longer flight paths, increased fuel costs, and in some cases, shifting passenger demand, particularly on routes affected by regional instability.
These developments remain unpredictable and continue to place pressure on the aviation sector, and these pressures are outside of the control of airlines but are nevertheless affecting their ability to operate as planned. Without intervention, airlines would not be able to respond effectively to known risks to their operators, and passengers could face last-minute cancellations and disruption at departure gates. These regulations respond directly to that uncertainty by providing limited, targeted flexibility while maintaining the overall integrity of the slot allocation system. These regulations allow airlines to hand back up to 10% of their allocated slots at slot-coordinated airports across the United Kingdom. These are the UK's busiest and most capacity-constrained airports where demand for take-off and landing times exceeds available capacity.
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