https://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/new ... e-now.html?

Wow, talk about hitting the lottery with one heck of a freebie. Per the link above, JetBlue's LHR slots are now it's to keep (permanent as opposed to temporary)

a) How did they accomplish this?

b) Does this mean that other airlines, such as Vistara, which operated LHR temporary slots for over a year, will also have their slots converted to "permanent"?

All it says is JetBlue secured permanent slots. That does not mean their temporary slot was converted to permanent free of charge. It is believed B6 picked up some former Aeroflot slots.

What did JetBlue pay for all their JFK slots?

You would think that the price paid for LHR slots would be an important piece of information in any news article since it's always been such a big part of previous announcements when other airlines buy/sell LHR slots.

jetblastdubai wrote:

What did JetBlue pay for all their JFK slots?

You would think that the price paid for LHR slots would be an important piece of information in any news article since it's always been such a big part of previous announcements when other airlines buy/sell LHR slots.

You won’t see a dollar amount publicized because of the current environment and the fact that it is a former Aeroflot slot that is being ceded because SU can no longer fly to London due to sanctions/overflight restrictions. JetBlue doesn’t want to give impression they are giving money to SU, LHR doesn’t want to publicize that they are getting a financial gain from Russian situation.

Very exciting. Pretty cool to think that you can now fly B6 from LAX to LHR with one seamless connection at JFK. 5 or 10 years ago, this was just the no-frills airline flying from Long Beach to Oakland!

SurfandSnow wrote:

5 or 10 years ago, this was just the no-frills airline flying from Long Beach to Oakland!

JetBlue has never been “no-frills”, even absent of Mint.

Polot wrote:

You won’t see a dollar amount publicized because of the current environment and the fact that it is a former Aeroflot slot that is being ceded because SU can no longer fly to London due to sanctions/overflight restrictions. JetBlue doesn’t want to give impression they are giving money to SU, LHR doesn’t want to publicize that they are getting a financial gain from Russian situation.

If these are ex Aeroflot slots, then they will have cost JetBlue nothing. Aeroflot's slots were confiscated and made available for reallocation like any other spare slots at any other UK airport. An exceptionally rare opportunity and JetBlue may well have got an asset worth millions for nothing.

I seem to recall Vietnam Airlines ended up a similar position a few years ago when some new slots were created due to airspace changes?

Polot wrote:

All it says is JetBlue secured permanent slots. That does not mean their temporary slot was converted to permanent free of charge. It is believed B6 picked up some former Aeroflot slots.

Read the article in the link below:
https://onemileatatime.com/news/jetblue ... ck-growth/
"It’s my understanding that JetBlue got the slots that used to belong to Aeroflot. Since Aeroflot can no longer fly to the UK, the carrier also had its slots seized. So JetBlue got quite a good deal here, since these slots can usually cost tens of millions of dollars to purchase."

Aeroflot's slots were seized. It's not like it was "compensated" as the last thing the EU want to do is for Aeroflot to land a windfall. So, my interpretation is that it was seized for free by the airport operator who then reallocated for free to Jetblue. Does anyone have a different interpretation?

jetblastdubai wrote:

What did JetBlue pay for all their JFK slots?

You would think that the price paid for LHR slots would be an important piece of information in any news article since it's always been such a big part of previous announcements when other airlines buy/sell LHR slots.

You would all want to read up on slot rules and how they work. Airports like London Heathrow do not sell slots, slots are allocated to all airlines for free. However, when you have slots, you must use them or lose them, so the airlines that have them at a constrained airport like LHR keep using them. This means there are no slots to allocate for free. Slot trading and selling is a very grey area, naturally it happens, but it's not "supposed to".

Anyway, JetBlue was offered the temporary slots for free, as per the slot rules and now they are being made permanent which means they didn't pay a thing for them. It just means slots became available and they were able to get them.

I knew as soon as they were allocated temporary slots that they would be in a very fine position to keep them. They took advantage of market conditions and have won. Nice work!!

edealinfo wrote:

Aeroflot's slots were seized. It's not like it was "compensated" as the last thing the EU want to do is for Aeroflot to land a windfall. So, my interpretation is that it was seized for free by the airport operator who then reallocated for free to Jetblue. Does anyone have a different interpretation?

Not sure the EU have any influence here, but the UK government certainly wouldn't want Aeroflot compensated. Also slots are controlled by Airport Coordination as a 3rd party slot co-ordinator, not LHR

To enrichen the discussion here, I am posting a user comment from Tim Dunn, who posted the comment below in response the artcile in teh link:
https://onemileatatime.com/news/jetblue ... ck-growth/

"The good news for JBLU is that this set of permanent slots is about as good from a timing standpoint as JBLU could get - gifted or paid.
The bad news is that it will be much harder for JBLU to get any more slots given to them because they will now be an incumbent airline at LHR. While there are rules that require airports to provide slots to airlines that don't have slots but want to service an airport, there are no rules that require further slots be given to airlines that simply want to grow.
If JBLU wants to obtain more LHR slots, the chances are high they will have to pay for them just as every other US airline has done by spending hundreds of millions of dollars in direct slot acquisitions or partnerships. There will be very few if any cases where slots are essentially abandoned as was the case with Aeroflot. If airlines leave LHR, they will gain some financial compensation in the process.
As such, the economics of operating a narrowbody at LHR don't apply for this slot but will apply for slots that cost JBLU.
LHR was the hardest airport to get into and JBLU has proven that it is possible so there will be more airports added to their European network.
The real question is what happens to their alliance with American as that deal heads to court in a few months as well as the acquisition of Spirit which will be voted on by Spirit stockholders in 10 days."

ClassicLover wrote:

Anyway, JetBlue was offered the temporary slots for free, as per the slot rules and now they are being made permanent which means they didn't pay a thing for them. It just means slots became available and they were able to get them.

I knew as soon as they were allocated temporary slots that they would be in a very fine position to keep them. They took advantage of market conditions and have won. Nice work!!

The slot times it's reported JetBlue have permanently are not their current slot times - which suggests they aren't getting to keep their current temporary slots permanently.

ClassicLover wrote:

I knew as soon as they were allocated temporary slots that they would be in a very fine position to keep them. They took advantage of market conditions and have won. Nice work!!

Humberside wrote:

but the UK government certainly wouldn't want Aeroflot compensated. Also slots are controlled by Airport Coordination as a 3rd party slot co-ordinator, not LHR

This begs the question. Who are the other beneficiaries of Aeroflot's confiscated slots? I'm guessing Vistara Airlines is one of them since they previously didn't have a presence at LHR, and have successfully operated a now daily flight there.

Humberside wrote:

The slot times it's reported JetBlue have permanently are not their current slot times - which suggests they aren't getting to keep their current temporary slots permanently.

Well this just means that once things get to normal, the permanent slot would effectively serve as a replacement for their temporary slot. I'm guessing the slot allocator a) first decided on which airlines should get Aeroflot's slots, and b) then gave out those slots whose times came as close to the ones they are operating on a temporary basis. Of course I am guessing. Who knows if b) is actually allocated by some sort of lottery basis?

Great for JB to get LHR slots, and they will want more. Who doesn't want more LHR slots, hey I want my cake and eat it too. Eventually it begs the question will JB be happy with just A321 to LHR from JFK and BOS or could it want other gateways requiring a bigger airplane. FLL & LAX are two places JB could launch London flights from. Hey all those Angelinos flying Mint to New York would love it to London from Los Angeles too. Food for JetBlue thought.

Please see links below for what's up for grabs.
TWO MAIN POINTS with regard to LHR only:
1) 70 weekly slots up for grabs, of which apparently JetBlue has got 14 (7X weekly slot pair, i.e., round trip daily flight).
2) Of the remaining 56, it's unclear if BA is allowed to keep 14 that it had leased from Aeroflot. If so, that, would mean 42 (i.e, 3 daily round trip flights available for distribution.) I wonder who the other 3 or 4 lucky airlines are to receive these free slots.

https://viewfromthewing.com/aeroflot-fo ... rmanently/
"the British government announced sanctions against three Russian airlines: Aeroflot, Ural Airlines and Rossiya Airlines"
"Aeroflot has 70 weekly takeoff and landing slots at London Heathrow. That’s enough for 5 daily roundtrips. One of those was leased from British Airways as a condition of approval for its acquisition of british midland 10 years ago. It’s not clear to me whether the slot will revert to BA’s use, or if they’ll have to lease it to another carrier. The four slot pairs that Aeroflot owns are likely worth tens of millions of dollars apiece."

And this
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-san ... 022-05-19/
"Rossiya Airlines is a unit of Aeroflot, while Ural Airlines is privately owned. ..... to prevent state-owned Aeroflot, Ural Airlines and Rossiya Airlines from selling their unused landing slots at British airports."

And this:
"Before the ban on Russian aircraft in British airspace, Aeroflot held 70 weekly slots out of London Heathrow Airport, notoriously one of the most difficult airports to acquire slots in, with the popular and highly sought after slots sold for tens of millions. Aeroflot subsidiary Rossiya previously operated a daily flight between St. Petersburg and London Gatwick Airport, while Ural Airlines connected Moscow’s Domodedovo airport to London Stansted four times a week. All carriers are subject to an assets freeze, preventing Russia from cashing in on the estimated £50 million sale."
https://simpleflying.com/uk-blocks-russ ... slot-sale/

UK's robbing Peter (Aeroflot) to pay Paul (JetBlue) doesn't show up under the LHR slot trade web site (see link below)

https://www.acl-uk.org/completed-slot-trades/

I don't know if we know for sure these are Aeroflot slots.

Looking at the slot trades page, I would say that there are some obvious places there where JetBlue can seek to lease additional slots. Etihad looks to be leasing out an equivalent of 5 flights a day. Maybe JetBlue can sign up to a long term lease of 1 slot pair for another JFK-LHR flights. They are probably going to add 2 or 3 more flights to London next year. I would guess they want to do at least 2xJFK-LHR + 2xJFK-LGW.

Of Aeroflot's 70 slots, 14 to 28 max are accounted for (by Jetblue and BA) . This means a minimum of 42 slots (or 3 round trip daily flights) are still available to be redistributed. Which airlines are getting these? Is selection, by lottery, or some other methodology? Since flights from Russia to LHR are "relatively" short in terms of long haul, does this mean that Asian carriers would be disadvantaged in distributing those slots since Aeroflot's arrival and departure times, theoretically won't work for longer Asian flights?

Separately, how long, on average, do airlines circle around LHR wasting fuel, waiting to land, because it's a slot congested airport?

edealinfo wrote:

Separately, how long, on average, do airlines circle around LHR wasting fuel, waiting to land, because it's a slot congested airport?

Probably not as much as airlines who arrive too early in the morning and have to circle before being allowed to land once the airport opens.

jfk777 wrote:

FLL & LAX are two places JB could launch London flights from.

FLL-LON was so low yield that BA dropped it shortly after starting, and DU moved its nonstop to MIA. And all of that was pre-Pandemic.


LAX-LON has lost a few operators, but still has nearly a half-dozen airlines flying multiple flights on the route. Why would the (barely) 6th largest carrier at LAX tie up its assets here, when it could use them much more effectively out of BOS/JFK/MCO/FLL to elsewhere?

LAX772LR wrote:

jfk777 wrote:

FLL & LAX are two places JB could launch London flights from.

FLL-LON was so low yield that BA dropped it shortly after starting, and DU moved its nonstop to MIA. And all of that was pre-Pandemic.


LAX-LON has lost a few operators, but still has nearly a half-dozen airlines flying multiple flights on the route. Why would the (barely) 6th largest carrier at LAX tie up its assets here, when it could use them much more effectively out of BOS/JFK/MCO/FLL to elsewhere?

It's only four really, BA,VS,AA and UA. DL tried for a season a few years back but that core quad have been dominant for years. Nothing has been available out of LGW for a long time.

skipness1E wrote:

It's only four at the moment, BA,VS,AA and UA. DL tried for a season a few years back but the core 4 have been dominant for years.

Prior to the Pandemic, DL and VS rotated the 3rd frequency for the previous two summers. Since the introduction of the A35Ks, it's been all VS.

skipness1E wrote:

Nothing has been available out of LGW for a long time.

DU flew LGW-LAX until just last year.....

LAX772LR wrote:

jfk777 wrote:

FLL & LAX are two places JB could launch London flights from.

FLL-LON was so low yield that BA dropped it shortly after starting, and DU moved its nonstop to MIA. And all of that was pre-Pandemic.


LAX-LON has lost a few operators, but still has nearly a half-dozen airlines flying multiple flights on the route. Why would the (barely) 6th largest carrier at LAX tie up its assets here, when it could use them much more effectively out of BOS/JFK/MCO/FLL to elsewhere?

The reason BA went LGW to FLL was to kill Norwegian's own flights on the route not because they loved it and to protect their own MIA to LHR. At the time, 2017-2019, BA flew thrice daily many with 744 aircraft.

AS far as JBLU flying from LAX to LHR, the same group of airlines fly from JFK to LHR too. JBLU has made inroads into the transcon market with their Mint Business Class so why not LHR from LAX? The issue with such a route is an A321 XLR is at the max range and JB may have to deal with the economic of buying LHR slots. This may require JB to buy widebody aircraft for both any potential LAX to LHR and existing JFK/BOS to London routes plus any other European adventure JB may expand into.

jfk777 wrote:

JBLU has made inroads into the transcon market with their Mint Business Class so why not LHR from LAX? The issue with such a route is an A321 XLR is at the max range and JB may have to deal with the economic of buying LHR slots. This may require JB to buy widebody aircraft for both any potential LAX to LHR and existing JFK/BOS to London routes plus any other European adventure JB may expand into.

If the LHR slots are not free, wouldn't you want an aircraft with the max capacity to leverage the price paid for the slot?

edealinfo wrote:

This begs the question. Who are the other beneficiaries of Aeroflot's confiscated slots? I'm guessing Vistara Airlines is one of them since they previously didn't have a presence at LHR, and have successfully operated a now daily flight there.

What about Westjet? Have their 787 flights now got permanent slots?
(thought prompted by watching one go round and round in the Bovingdon hold at the moment -- C-GUDO inbound from YYC)

Westjets slots are permanent, they were also allocated some in 2021 but did not use them. Vistara also have allocated slots

https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoi ... QwYjY3YiJ9

Polot wrote:

SurfandSnow wrote:

5 or 10 years ago, this was just the no-frills airline flying from Long Beach to Oakland!

JetBlue has never been “no-frills”, even absent of Mint.

Are you sure about that? No meals, no lounges, single class aircraft for many years. That feels like no-frills to me. Maybe not as much as some but they were certainly not as full service as the legacies.

airbazar wrote:

Polot wrote:

SurfandSnow wrote:

5 or 10 years ago, this was just the no-frills airline flying from Long Beach to Oakland!

JetBlue has never been “no-frills”, even absent of Mint.

Are you sure about that? No meals, no lounges, single class aircraft for many years. That feels like no-frills to me. Maybe not as much as some but they were certainly not as full service as the legacies.

JetBlue has always offered free snacks, free non alcoholic beverages, more legroom (especially in early years before densified a bit and added their Y+), and free live TV (which was especially novel at the time when PTV on international planes was hit or miss, let alone on a domestic plane). I’d consider those frills.

Legacy in flight service in Y was only a bit better in B6’s very early years when the legacies still had free inflight meals. Yes B6 had no lounges or F class but only a small percentage of legacy fliers actually experience those things. Delta actually upped their Y product with Song to better compete against B6 (then rolled improvement fleet wide when they killed Song).

5 or 10 years ago nobody was stepping on a JetBlue aircraft thinking they were getting a downgraded no frills flight compared to the same cabin on a legacy.

What happened to the remedy slots AA & BA had to make available for flights between LHR-BOS/JFK/PHL/MIA and DFW ?

LAX772LR wrote:

skipness1E wrote:

It's only four at the moment, BA,VS,AA and UA. DL tried for a season a few years back but the core 4 have been dominant for years.

Prior to the Pandemic, DL and VS rotated the 3rd frequency for the previous two summers. Since the introduction of the A35Ks, it's been all VS.

skipness1E wrote:

Nothing has been available out of LGW for a long time.

DU flew LGW-LAX until just last year.....

Stopped early 2020.

Thomaas wrote:

What happened to the remedy slots AA & BA had to make available for flights between LHR-BOS/JFK/PHL/MIA and DFW ?

AA/BA had to give up 4 slots. UA has 1, DL 2, and VS 1. Because of Covid the length of time AA/BA had to give up slots was increased by 2 years. In Fall of 2023 a tender will take place to determine who gets the slots for the next 2 years (March 2024-March 2026).

The NEA might make things a bit challenging for B6 on that front, as others will definitely argue that B6 is under AA’s influence.

edealinfo wrote:

Polot wrote:

All it says is JetBlue secured permanent slots. That does not mean their temporary slot was converted to permanent free of charge. It is believed B6 picked up some former Aeroflot slots.

Read the article in the link below:
https://onemileatatime.com/news/jetblue ... ck-growth/
"It’s my understanding that JetBlue got the slots that used to belong to Aeroflot. Since Aeroflot can no longer fly to the UK, the carrier also had its slots seized. So JetBlue got quite a good deal here, since these slots can usually cost tens of millions of dollars to purchase."

Aeroflot's slots were seized. It's not like it was "compensated" as the last thing the EU want to do is for Aeroflot to land a windfall. So, my interpretation is that it was seized for free by the airport operator who then reallocated for free to Jetblue. Does anyone have a different interpretation?

Yes, they were seized and redistributed as per normal rules, but your 'interpretation' is pushing that JetBlue were given these free under some dubious means, and this is entirely misleading NO airline pays LHR for any slots.

jetblastdubai wrote:

What did JetBlue pay for all their JFK slots?

You would think that the price paid for LHR slots would be an important piece of information in any news article since it's always been such a big part of previous announcements when other airlines buy/sell LHR slots.

Airlines buy/sell LHR slots from/to each other.......not from LHR, and who distribute slots free to all airlines.

edealinfo wrote:

jfk777 wrote:

JBLU has made inroads into the transcon market with their Mint Business Class so why not LHR from LAX? The issue with such a route is an A321 XLR is at the max range and JB may have to deal with the economic of buying LHR slots. This may require JB to buy widebody aircraft for both any potential LAX to LHR and existing JFK/BOS to London routes plus any other European adventure JB may expand into.

If the LHR slots are not free, wouldn't you want an aircraft with the max capacity to leverage the price paid for the slot?

Eventually, but they are not at that point yet. They need to get their operations in order this summer, get as many slots at LHR as they can and see if this NK merger works out. Adding another fleet type would be crazy right now. I really doubt widebody market would pick up over the next couple of years. So if they do think it makes sense, I'm pretty sure they can place an order in 2023/2024 for 2026 widebody delivery if everything looks good.

Yes, LAX-LHR would make sense, but they need to get LHR slots first. That's the hard part. Adding LHR is first/foremost about strengthening their position in NYC/BOS. As such, they need as many LHR slots out of JFK/BOS as possible. There are plenty of markets like HNL/OGG that they can add at LAX before LHR should even be considered.

I remember when Air France operated B772s LHR to LAX under Delta/Skyteam auspices, that didn't get good loads and didn't last long

The politics of this is worrying. When the Ukraine war is settled it likely will involve side negotiations with the EU, UK and US. It is in their interest to entice Russia into some sort of settlement.

frmrCapCadet wrote:

The politics of this is worrying. When the Ukraine war is settled it likely will involve side negotiations with the EU, UK and US. It is in their interest to entice Russia into some sort of settlement.

I’m not sure anyone is worried about offering enticements to a government that is conducting itself the way the Russians are.

11C wrote:

frmrCapCadet wrote:

The politics of this is worrying. When the Ukraine war is settled it likely will involve side negotiations with the EU, UK and US. It is in their interest to entice Russia into some sort of settlement.

I’m not sure anyone is worried about offering enticements to a government that is conducting itself the way the Russians are.

Come on now. There are far worse governments that the U.S./EU/UK support, or are friendly with, either at present or in the past. This will all blow over eventually and all will be forgotten.

11C wrote:

frmrCapCadet wrote:

The politics of this is worrying. When the Ukraine war is settled it likely will involve side negotiations with the EU, UK and US. It is in their interest to entice Russia into some sort of settlement.

I’m not sure anyone is worried about offering enticements to a government that is conducting itself the way the Russians are.

Best answer is probably a question: How else will we get the Ukraine and Russia to an agreement?

will they be remaining in t2? or they'll likely go to t4?

airbazar wrote:

11C wrote:

frmrCapCadet wrote:

The politics of this is worrying. When the Ukraine war is settled it likely will involve side negotiations with the EU, UK and US. It is in their interest to entice Russia into some sort of settlement.

I’m not sure anyone is worried about offering enticements to a government that is conducting itself the way the Russians are.

Come on now. There are far worse governments that the U.S./EU/UK support, or are friendly with, either at present or in the past. This will all blow over eventually and all will be forgotten.

You can see QR and EK planes jetting off from every major western city. Proof that you are absolutely correct that this will blow over.

fcogafa wrote:

Westjets slots are permanent, they were also allocated some in 2021 but did not use them. Vistara also have allocated slots

https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoi ... QwYjY3YiJ9

Thank you for sharing the link. However, browsing through it, nowhere does it state whether the WestJet OR Vistara slots (or how many of them) are permanent. All it states is how many flights they operate and how many there were between 2 points in time. So, how did you make that determination (of permanence vs temporary)?

So, my original question below still stands. I await your response. Thanks.

Of Aeroflot's 70 slots, 14 to 28 max are accounted for (by Jetblue and BA) . This means a minimum of 42 slots (or 3 round trip daily flights) are still available to be redistributed. Which airlines are getting these? Is selection, by lottery, or some other methodology? Since flights from Russia to LHR are "relatively" short in terms of long haul, does this mean that Asian carriers would be disadvantaged in distributing those slots since Aeroflot's arrival and departure times, theoretically won't work for longer Asian flights?

edealinfo wrote:

fcogafa wrote:

Westjets slots are permanent, they were also allocated some in 2021 but did not use them. Vistara also have allocated slots

https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoi ... QwYjY3YiJ9

Thank you for sharing the link. However, browsing through it, nowhere does it state whether the WestJet OR Vistara slots (or how many of them) are permanent. All it states is how many flights they operate and how many there were between 2 points in time. So, how did you make that determination (of permanence vs temporary)?

So, my original question below still stands. I await your response. Thanks.

Of Aeroflot's 70 slots, 14 to 28 max are accounted for (by Jetblue and BA) . This means a minimum of 42 slots (or 3 round trip daily flights) are still available to be redistributed. Which airlines are getting these? Is selection, by lottery, or some other methodology? Since flights from Russia to LHR are "relatively" short in terms of long haul, does this mean that Asian carriers would be disadvantaged in distributing those slots since Aeroflot's arrival and departure times, theoretically won't work for longer Asian flights?

Have just seen this:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/edmond-rose-16ba522_airlines-airportslots-activity-6945306130432581632-tn0z?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=android_app

W22 newly allocated weekly slot pairs:
WestJet 3
Avianca 4
China airlines 4
Jet blue 7
vistara 7
Virgin Atlantic 7

Polot wrote:

You won’t see a dollar amount publicized because of the current environment and the fact that it is a former Aeroflot slot that is being ceded because SU can no longer fly to London due to sanctions/overflight restrictions. JetBlue doesn’t want to give impression they are giving money to SU, LHR doesn’t want to publicize that they are getting a financial gain from Russian situation.

Aren't slots usually assigned on a use-it-or-lose-it basis? So if SU cannot use their slots, they should automatically return to the general pool of free slots, allowing LHR to assign them to a new carrier without paying anything to SU.

frmrCapCadet wrote:

The politics of this is worrying. When the Ukraine war is settled it likely will involve side negotiations with the EU, UK and US. It is in their interest to entice Russia into some sort of settlement.

What settlement are you expecting? Relationships between Russia and the West will remain sour for the next 10-20 years.
The Russian government has announced their desire to control as much of continental Europe as possible, by occupation or political pressure. The only language they understand (and speak) right now is violence, and that is their own choice.

edealinfo wrote:

Which airlines are getting these? Is selection, by lottery, or some other methodology?

LHR authorities have three lists:

LIST A: Top priority. This list is NOT too long and these are airlines that currently DO NOT fly into LHR but have actively and recently expressed their interest, and have met and negotiated with LHR officials and they are really serious about it. They usually only need slots for a daily or less than daily return flight. As I said before, these airlines are top priority and miraculously are allocated slots in a relatively short time, depending on the airline's schedule flexibility. I believe this was the case, for example, of AVIANCA and probably JET BLUE. Sometimes we know or can imagine who's in this list, most of the times we don't.

LIST B: Airlines that currently fly to LHR but have very few slots, or less than daily flights and want to fly daily, or they have extremely inconvenient departure/arrival times (for them), and have requested an improvement. These airlines are told OK, leave it with us, but we can't promise anything. These requests are analised on a case by case basis and these airlines may or may not get what they want.

LIST C: Long list with everybody else in it. I'd like to, It would be nice if, etc. Extra slots for airlines that already fly to LHR. These requests, while not turned down right away, may take years to come to something. Being allocated an additional pair of slots in these circumstances depends on many factors: Airport's strategy, competition, times requested, new destinations, terminal to be used, plane size, etc. We can only guess how this system really works, but a Delta request to launch a new flight from Jacksonville or Sacramento nonstop to LHR (for example) would probably have better luck than an Air Canada's request to add another YYZ-LHR flight.

Humberside wrote:

Polot wrote:

You won’t see a dollar amount publicized because of the current environment and the fact that it is a former Aeroflot slot that is being ceded because SU can no longer fly to London due to sanctions/overflight restrictions. JetBlue doesn’t want to give impression they are giving money to SU, LHR doesn’t want to publicize that they are getting a financial gain from Russian situation.

If these are ex Aeroflot slots, then they will have cost JetBlue nothing. Aeroflot's slots were confiscated and made available for reallocation like any other spare slots at any other UK airport. An exceptionally rare opportunity and JetBlue may well have got an asset worth millions for nothing.

I seem to recall Vietnam Airlines ended up a similar position a few years ago when some new slots were created due to airspace changes?

I also noted that Boston seems to have gotten a coveted early morning slot (6:45 AM arrival); those slots for resale can easily fetch $50M on the open market.

As for other notable recipients of the forfeited SU slots...CI, UK, and AV.

So sounds like the Aeroflot slots have beeen allocated to JetBlue, WestJet, CI, AV and Visatara.
https://airwaysmag.com/heathrow-russian ... -airlines/

Weird part is their statement that JetBlue can operate twice daily service to New York. I though they only got 1 slot pair to JFK.

Did BOS get permanent slots too?

tphuang wrote:

So sounds like the Aeroflot slots have beeen allocated to JetBlue, WestJet, CI, AV and Visatara.
https://airwaysmag.com/heathrow-russian ... -airlines/

Weird part is their statement that JetBlue can operate twice daily service to New York. I though they only got 1 slot pair to JFK.

Did BOS get permanent slots too?

Are the slots destination-specific?