UK awards Aeroflot Heathrow slots to six airlines

LONDON - Only once in a while Heathrow slots return to the open allocation pool. British slot coordinator ACI has now reallocated 32 Aeroflot take-off and landing slots among other airlines. JetBlue Airways, Virgin Atlantic and four other airlines will take off on seized Aeroflot slots in the winter season.

Aeroflot lost its Heathrow slots. The state-owned Russian airline is banned from flying into the EU and the UK under sanctions.

The consequence: Aeroflot will loose all its slots at London's main hub in winter. The British government already seized the slots in May, preventing a possible sale.

British slot coordinator ACL has now reassigned 32 weekly Aeroflot slot pairs for the winter - not an easy task at all.

"ACL's job is difficult when scarce Heathrow slots become available - and even harder when a significant number of slots returns to the pool," former ACL chief Edmond Rose said on LinkedIn.

JetBlue Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Vistara were awarded seven Aeroflot slot pairs each.  "JetBlue and Vistara are particularly fortunate to be allocated prized slots for every day of the week," Rose said. "JetBlue's morning arrivals are especially valuable for transatlantic operations"

China Airlines and Avianca will received four weekly slot pairs each, while Westjet will was awarded three. Heathrow slots rarely hit the open pool.. "From recollection, the last time Virgin was allocated a daily slot-pair from the pool at Heathrow was well over a decade ago", Rose said.