Citation, commencement, extent and application

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Airports Slot Allocation (Alleviation of Usage Requirements) Regulations 2022 and they come into force on 26th March 2022.

(2) These Regulations extend to, and apply in relation to airports located in, England and Wales and Scotland.

Amendment of Council Regulation (EEC) No 95/93

2. —(1)

(2) In Article 2(n) (definition of ‘required percentage’), after “26 March 2022;” insert—

• “ 70 %, in the case of slots with a date falling within the scheduling period from 27 March 2022 until 29 October 2022; ” .

(3) In Article 10 (slot pool), at the end of paragraph 4(e) insert—

“ ;

(f) in relation to slots with a date falling within the scheduling period from 27 March 2022 until 29 October 2022, government-imposed measures related to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 which meet all of conditions (i) to (iv) below:

(i) the measures apply at either end of the route for which the slots in question were used or planned to be used;

(ii) the measures take the form of any of the following affecting the route, or a significant number of passengers or crew on the route:

• flight bans or border closures;

• quarantine or self-isolation requirements;

• official government advice against all but essential travel;

• severe or total closure or unavailability of airports, essential ground handling services or other businesses essential to support aviation;

• severe restrictions on the number of passengers permitted on flights or in airports;

• severe or total closure of accommodation, surface travel or other essential tourist services; or

• significant restrictions on onward travel which is booked along with the flight as part of a package;

(iii) the measures severely reduce the viability of, or demand for passenger travel on, the route for part or all of the period to which the slots relate; and

(iv) any one or more of the following applies:

• the measures are in effect at the date the slots are due to be operated;

• the measures were in effect a maximum of three weeks before that date; or

• the measures were in effect more than three weeks before that date, the government imposing the measures made an official announcement relating to their duration which made it reasonable to expect that they would remain in effect until that date, and the air carrier made the slots available to the coordinator for reallocation. ” .

(4) In Article 14 (enforcement), in paragraph 6(c), after “26 March 2022;” insert—

• “ 30 %, in the case of slots with a date falling within the scheduling period from 27 March 2022 until 29 October 2022; ” .