Less than 10% of allocated Sydney slots unused, report finds

ACL’s figures show that the highest slot utilisation is across domestic and international passenger flights at 95 per cent, with the lowest utilisation being regional passenger flights at 67 per cent.

Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar were the highest users of slots at Sydney Airport, holding 71 per cent between them, and had a “high” level of utilisation. Virgin used 96 per cent of its allocated slots, with Qantas at 94 per cent and Jetstar at 93 per cent.

“Overall, the main reasons cited by airlines for not using their allocated slots unless they were given exemptions were commercial considerations (32 per cent), operational issues (23 per cent), maintenance or technical issues (20 per cent), crew availability (nine per cent) and weather (eight per cent),” ACL said.

“Airlines said 41 per cent of delays were caused by late arriving aircraft, followed by airline/network operations (11 per cent), aircraft defects/safety (10 per cent), air traffic control (six per cent) and security/government border control (five per cent).”

According to ACL chief executive Neil Garwood, new reports will be released four times per year, making the slot management regime at Sydney “one of the world’s most transparent”.

“Sydney Airport is the only one of the 79 airports in ACL’s global network – including some of the world’s biggest aviation hubs such as Heathrow, Dubai and Abu Dhabi – to release slot utilisation data,” he said.

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“It is a major step forward in terms of transparency after many years of speculation about how slots were being used by airlines at Sydney Airport and part of significant Federal Government reforms around slot utilisation.”

Speaking to Australian Aviation in February, Garwood said he believed the current 80/20 “use it or lose it” rule at Sydney Airport – where an airline must use a slot 80 per cent of the time to keep it indefinitely – struck approximately the right balance.

“In any scenario where you’ve got 80 per cent of something being utilised, you think, ‘well, that’s 20 per cent going to waste’. It’s not quite like that, because we can allocate some of that capacity for ad hoc movements,” he said.

“I think there are arguments to be made, and in some jurisdictions, there have been discussions about raising that threshold – to 90/10, for example – but it doesn’t get widespread traction for various reasons.

“I think probably 80/20 is about right, although that won’t stop the questions in the debate raging probably forever about whether 80/20 is the correct balance, but it’s a well-established principle that’s embedded into most slot management frameworks around the world.”

Transport Minister Catherine King has welcomed the report, saying it is “part of the Albanese Government’s reforms to improve transparency around slot usage at our nation’s busiest airport”.

“The high utilisation of allocated slots by airlines at Sydney Airport are an early indication that the Sydney demand management reforms are working,” she said in a statement.

“The Federal Government’s investment in Western Sydney Airport, which will open for passenger flights later this year, will provide additional capacity and slots for airlines, as well as more choice for consumers flying in and out of Sydney.”

The next ACL report will be in May for the Northern Winter 2025 full season.