India's Ministry of Civil Aviation proposes to introduce auctioning of departure slots at airports

India's Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri KC Venugopal stated (12-Dec-2012) it is proposing to introduce auction for allocation of vacant slots in peak hours, on an experimental basis. Slots are currently allocated by the respective airport operators, i.e. Airports Authority of India (AAI) in the case of airports managed by them and JVC Operators for airports managed by them in accordance with the Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in line with IATA World Slot Guidelines (WSG). Mr Venugopal stated, "With the increase in air traffic at major airports in the country, the capacity of some airports has become constrained. Therefore, to ensure the most efficient use of airport infrastructure and in order to maximize benefits to the greatest number of airport users, it is felt essential to have a policy for allocation of constrained or limited airport capacity to airlines and other aircraft operators through a transparent and equitable mechanism so as to ensure viable airport and air transport operations. The method of auction is intended to ensure the most efficient use of airport infrastructure through a transparent and equitable mechanism to allot and utilize the vacant prime-time slots at airports where capacity is constrained due to lack of sufficient infrastructure. This method is not likely to have any significant impact on the operating cost of the airlines. The Government has already formulated and announced the policy guidelines for slot allocation." [more - original PR]